Ghodawat Consumer Limited (GCL) has no illusions about the scale of its ambition. From a largely regional staples business anchored in edible oil, salt, and flour, the company now wants to multiply its topline more than fivefold within the next five years – transforming a Rs.1,200-crore portfolio into a Rs.5,000 crore FMCG powerhouse by 2030.
Led by CEO Salloni Ghodawat, GCL is re-architecting its growth engine: deepening its dominance in staples, building out high-margin brands like Coolberg and To Be Honest (TBH), shifting to an asset-light manufacturing model, doubling down on technology-driven distribution, and using quick commerce and smart acquisitions to take its “house of trust” from South Maharashtra and North Karnataka to the rest of India and over 17 global markets.
It’s an audacious ambition, but it does not come from a blank slate. GCL already sits on a 20-year legacy as a hard-core staples player whose journey started with edible oil in 2003, serving the soybean belts around Kolhapur. Over time, the portfolio expanded into flour and salt, and later into rice, pulses, beverages, and snacks – creating a solid, if largely regional, FMCG platform.
For years, the brand was tightly woven into the food habits of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka, where “Star oil” is often asked for by name in Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets. “People in the villages and small towns have known us for 20–25 years,” Salloni notes. “They walk into a shop and say, ‘give us oil in Star’s name.’ That trust is our biggest strength.”
Yet for all the brand love, GCL’s footprint and product architecture remained relatively narrow. It was, in Salloni’s words, “a very manufacturing-led company” and a “me-too portfolio” in staples. The next five years, she insists, will look very different: “We don’t want to be seen as just an oil brand or a flour brand anymore. We want to be a full food brand – a house of trust that offers high-quality, value-added products from the kitchen counter to lifestyle snacking and beverages.”
To get from Rs.1,200 crore to Rs.5,000 crore, Ghodawat Consumer is essentially rewiring four engines at once: portfolio, business model, distribution and brand building.
From Loose Oil to Premium Staples – Deepening the Core
GCL’s story began by solving a problem that feels almost quaint today: the dominance of loose, often adulterated edible oil in small-town markets. “When we started, adulterated loose oil was a big issue,” Salloni recalls. “We were in the soybean growing regions and it was an opportunity to move consumers from loose to packaged oil, to give them purity and consistency.”
From that early pivot, the company built its staples backbone: Edible oil; Flour (atta); Salt; Rice and pulses. These categories still contribute around 80% of GCL’s revenue, and will remain central to its growth ambitions. “Staples is always a volume game,” Salloni points out. “You cannot reach Rs.5,000 crore without staples. Even as we premiumise and diversify, it will continue to be a staples-dominated company in terms of topline.”
But ‘staples’ no longer means plain vanilla. The next wave is about premiumisation with purpose – improving nutrition, authenticity and trust rather than just charging more.
“When I say premium, it doesn’t necessarily mean expensive,” Salloni explains. “It means more value added than the regular.” GCL’s planned and ongoing launches include:
- Khapli Atta – made from ancient grains, stone-ground for better nutrient retention; a nod to India’s traditional flours.
- Himalayan Pink Salt – tapping the “better for you” seasoning trend.
- Jaggery and jaggery powder – with an explicit promise of 100% jaggery, no sugar or adulterants mixed in.
Indian consumers, she notes, often assume loose products are fresher because they are sold in front of them. “But jaggery, for example, is widely adulterated. We want GCL to be the house of trust: whatever we put on pack is exactly what the consumer gets. We don’t want to fool the customer.”
These products will deepen GCL’s presence in its home geographies of Maharashtra and Karnataka, while quick commerce listings allow the more premium offerings to travel well beyond the company’s traditional strongholds.
If staples are the foundation, Coolberg and TBH (To Be Honest) are the spearheads of GCL’s next growth curve. Both were acquired in 2022–23, and both play squarely into emerging lifestyle trends: health, fitness, permissible indulgence and global snacking cues.
Coolberg began life nearly a decade ago as a niche non-alcoholic beer brand at a time when “drinking alcohol was cool” and “non-alcoholic” was barely a category. “Today the mindset has flipped,” Salloni says. “Fifteen and sixteen year olds are in the gym; they don’t want to jeopardise their health. Alcohol is no longer cool – fitness is.”
With eight flavours, a national presence and exports to around 17 countries, Coolberg sits at the intersection of youth culture and better choices. Salloni describes it as “a brand that resonates with today’s youth” – and a powerful strategic lever as the company looks beyond staples.
Then there is To Be Honest (TBH) Crunchies – vacuum-cooked 100% fruit and vegetable chips that look nothing like conventional potato snacks. “When you open the packet, you actually see full okra, full beetroot,” she says. “People nowadays say they’re selling vegetable chips, but it’s 2–3% vegetables. Again, staying true to our group philosophy, we are giving real fruit and vegetable chips with no palm oil and 30–40% lower fat than regular chips – something your child and your grandmother can both enjoy.”
Initially, both brands relied heavily on outsourced manufacturing and even imported finished product. In the last two years, GCL has shifted manufacturing in-house and localised the supply chain, growing all the required vegetables in India and stopping imports. “Now it’s a truly Indian-made product,” Salloni notes.
The plan, however, is far bigger than keeping TBH restricted to fruit and vegetable chips. “The brand is so powerful that we are going to extend it across a wide range of products,” she says. “We’re launching coconut water, a kids’ range, many interesting protein chips and a wide basket that will strengthen all three brands – Star, Coolberg and TBH.”
In other words, GCL’s 5X journey will not come from staples alone. It will be fuelled by a trio of brands that operate across volume staples, premium snacking and lifestyle beverages, each with a distinct role in the portfolio.
Perhaps the most dramatic shift in GCL’s roadmap is structural: a move from a heavy manufacturing footprint to an asset-light, innovation-driven model. “For many years, we invested heavily in our plants and infrastructure. We were a manufacturing-led company,” Salloni explains. “Going forward, we want to be asset-light. By 2030, roughly 60% of our production will be outsourced and 40% in-house.”
This is not about relinquishing control; it is about redeploying capital where it can create more competitive advantage. “What we are going to spend on now is innovation, marketing, a great sales team and robust systems and processes,” she says. “We feel that is what will differentiate us in such a highly competitive market.”
To make an asset-light strategy viable, GCL has been investing heavily in technology, SOPs and quality systems:
- SAP-based systems for accounting and inventory
- Distributor Management System (DMS) and Sales Force Automation (SFA) to track retail execution
- Centralised procurement, e-procurement and AI-driven analytics for sourcing
- Ghodawat Analytical and Research Centre (GARC) – an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited lab with advanced testing equipment for oils, cereals and pulses, ensuring that outsourced and in-house products meet the same stringent standards.
“We have an excellent leadership team from some of the best pedigrees in India,” Salloni points out. “Our SOPs, our SAP, our processes – everything is like any other multinational. Whether it is our own asset or a contract manufacturer’s, we apply the same standards.”
GCL is not new to the idea of manufacturing for and with others. It has acted as a contract manufacturer for large brands like Reliance’s private label “Campa” and, in the past, for ITC – experience that reassures the company about running a hybrid network of owned and outsourced plants.
Cracking Distribution – Hyperlocal Depth, Digital Visibility
If manufacturing is being re-imagined, distribution remains the backbone – especially for a staples-heavy business. “General trade is our core and will remain so,” says Salloni. “Today almost 98% of my revenue comes from general trade.”
The strategy is to go deep before wide:
- Handpick top distributors in each territory – especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities where only “five to seven names” dominate.
- Personally engage with them through market visits and relationship-building.
- Offer a “full basket” so that one distributor can cater to C-class to A-class outlets with staples, value-added staples and premium products.
“Distributors are an integral part of our growth story,” she says. “We want them to feel that they are part of a bigger group, that they can trust us, and that whatever they do with us is safe.”
From around 600 distributors in the past, the network has expanded to 1,200+ distributors and 250,000+ touchpoints, reflecting this dual focus on depth and spread.
Technology is the glue. GCL uses SFA and DMS to track:
- Which products are present in which outlets
- How often they are bought
- Retailer coverage and call productivity
“Our distributors can see the same visibility that we do,” Salloni notes. “It’s a very transparent model that helps both brand and distributor. We don’t believe in dumping; for us, primary equals secondary – that’s the discipline we live by.”
Channel Strategy – GT at the Core, Q-Commerce as Accelerator
Beyond general trade, GCL sees quick commerce and modern trade as critical accelerators, especially for its newer value-added and premium lines.
On the staples side, Modern Trade (DMart, Metro and others) currently contributes 3–4% of sales. The goal is to take the combined share of modern trade + quick commerce to around 10% for staples.
For premium and impulse products like Coolberg and TBH, the mix is already more tilted: “For premium products, quick commerce is now contributing 30–40% of revenue – not just for us, but for most brands,” Salloni says.
GCL’s products are now present on platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, JioMart, Zepto, and Swiggy, and the company has also begun tapping CSD (defence canteens) with Coolberg.
The geographic roadmap mirrors the channel strategy:
- Strong base: South Maharashtra & North Karnataka
- Expansion underway: Mumbai, Pune, Vidarbha, Bangalore
- Next five years: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and deeper into Goa
- National and international play: Coolberg and TBH are already in metros like Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and exported to 17+ countries.
“We want to first strengthen Maharashtra and Karnataka,” Salloni says. “Then we go to Gujarat, MP, AP, Telangana and so on. With quick commerce and our acquisitions, Coolberg and TBH, we already have a national presence even as Star deepens regionally.”
Brand Building and the Power of Story
To move from a regional workhorse to a national contender, GCL knows it must amplify its brands. Marketing, which was once modest, is now a core part of the investment thesis.
“We will be spending around 4–5% of our revenues on marketing going forward,” Salloni says. “For impulse brands, it will be a little higher; for staples, a little lower, but overall that is the range.”
Recent moves signal this shift: Raveena Tandon as the brand ambassador for Star refined oil, giving the brand a high-visibility face and emotional hook. Turn Kolhapur into “Star City”, ensuring that whether a consumer flies in on Star Air or walks into a retail outlet, the Star brand is visible everywhere.
A clever “Jugaadu” collaboration with Amazon Prime’s show Do You Wanna Partner? – where a beer in the show was mirrored in real life as a non-alcoholic Coolberg variant for the market, blurring the line between reel and real.
“It’s never happened before,” Salloni says. “You see something on TV and then you can go out and actually buy that exact product. It was a beautiful marketing story and we’re going to keep partnering in this way – not just to sell, but to educate and convince consumers that what we offer is genuinely right for them.”
The narrative she wants consumers and partners to hear is simple:
- Consistency and trust built over decades in staples
- Uniqueness and quality in Coolberg and TBH
- A “collective prosperity” mindset that encompasses farmers, distributors, retailers and communities, not just shareholders
“We want to do good for our community, for our customers, for farmers,” she says. “It’s a universe of collective prosperity. That’s the vision our Chairman and MD have set – and we believe customers will find a beautiful story in that and choose Star, Coolberg or TBH over someone else.”
Sustainability and Governance – Future-Proofing the Growth Story
Beyond market share and margins, GCL’s future roadmap is anchored in sustainability and governance – both for business resilience and as a differentiator.
The company already sources around 45% of its factory power from renewables, using solar and wind for its rice, beverages and other plants. Co-generation supports the energy needs of oil, beverages and snack units. Rainwater harvesting is standard across divisions, and over 2,50,000 trees have been planted across Maharashtra and Karnataka.
By 2030, GCL has set itself ambitious ESG targets:
- Carbon neutral
- Water neutral
- Zero landfill operations
These are backed by effluent treatment plants in all units and a strong focus on responsible sourcing and waste management. At the governance level, a fully digitised procure-to-pay system, GST compliance tools, HRMS, and real-time MIS aim to create a transparent, well-controlled organisation ready for public markets.
Which brings us to the question everyone eventually asks: When’s the IPO? “IPO is not in the pipeline yet,” Salloni says candidly. “But the ambition is definitely to become public in about five years. We have a healthy competition within the group – whether Star Air lists first or GCL. Ultimately, every company should unlock maximum value. That’s the aim.”
The Road to 2030 – House of Trust, Engine of Growth
Look at the 5X5Y ambition up close and it stops being a slogan and starts reading like a multi-layered execution plan:
- Strengthen staples with more trusted, value-added offerings like Khapli atta, Himalayan pink salt and 100% jaggery.
- Scale Coolberg and TBH as high-margin, high-aspiration national and global brands in non-alcoholic beverages and better-for-you snacking.
- Shift to an asset-light model, with 60% contract manufacturing by 2030, while using technology and GARC to keep quality non-negotiable.
- Double down on distribution, growing from hundreds to thousands of hyperlocal distributors while using SFA/DMS to ensure primary equals secondary.
- Leverage quick commerce and modern trade to take premium products national, even as Star burrows deeper into semi-urban and rural markets.
- Invest 4–5% of revenues in brand building, from celebrity endorsements to streaming-platform collaborations.
- Embed sustainability and ESG as core to operations, not as an afterthought.
At the heart of it all is a simple but demanding promise: never compromise on what’s inside the pack. “Whether it’s jaggery, oil or chips, we want our consumers to feel safe and proud to bring our products into their homes,” Salloni says. “We are a house of trust first and a growth story second. If we stay true to that, the numbers will follow.”
