Over the last few years, Amit Kumat has expanded his business to such a great extent that has made him the fifth-largest player in savoury snacks. Thanks to Amit Kumat for his snacks business. From selling a packet of snacks for only Rs 5 to building an 850 crore rupees empire, this is one of the most inspirational stories.
Let’s take a look at how Amit Kumat touched the pinnacle of success from Namkeen snacks. His company Prataap Snacks is one of the top companies in India.
His retail outlet reach has increased considerably from 0.5 million to around 2 million currently and he hopes to expand aggressively in next few years also. He has expanded his networks in many states, but there are strong markets, big markets where his business is very weak. These are Punjab, UP, southern India, Himachal Pradesh and J&K. It will take few years for them to have a pan-India presence.
Prataap Snacks Pvt Ltd. is the best company in the country in terms of good value and quality as they maintain quality and earn customer’s trust. As far as distribution is concerned, the company is planning to enter the Gujarat, UP and Punjab markets.
In the year 2003, Amit Kumat and Apoorva Kumat along with their friend Arvind Mehta established Prataap Snacks. It is today a Rs 850-crore company with four factories across the country and a distribution network made up of 168 super stockists across 24 states and one Union Territory and 2,900 distributors.
At first, Amit worked in a snacks company, then after a decade he decided in 2001 to enter the chemicals manufacturing business. Amit approached Apoorva and Arvind with an idea to start manufacturing snacks in the Indore region. The trio started out by marketing cheese balls after convincing their family to invest Rs 15 lakh and promising to return the money if the venture did not work.
“I knew I wanted to remain an entrepreneur and was interested in the snacks market since I was familiar with all the big brands. I realised that their reach in cities like Indore was not large and that was the genesis of the idea,” says Amit.
In the first year, the company generated impressive revenue of Rs 22 lakh, in the second Rs 1 crore, and in the third year, it touched Rs 7 crore. Amit has a deep interest in meditation and philosophy. According to him, meditation is a true way to focus and relax. Every morning, he spends 90 minutes meditating. “It calms me through the day and I remain focused on what I do,” says Amit of his daily meditation.
According to Amit, the company has been careful to expand into one region at a time instead of targeting the entire country at the same time. “As a businessperson, I would tell people entering the business of food brands that it is better to test a market out before going national,” he says.
