Sundrop Brands Ltd: ₹1,300 Cr Del Monte Deal & ₹40 Cr PAT – Popcorn Dreams, Oil Nightmares
Date of Publishing -
Spotted a factual error — a wrong number, date, or fact? Tell us and we will check the source.
1. At a Glance
From being Conagra’s sleepy stepchild (Agro Tech Foods) to rebranding as Sundrop Brands under Convergent + Samara, this company has gone full Bollywood makeover. Think of it as a hero who ditched his boring surname and came back with six-pack abs, peanut butter jars, and Del Monte ketchup bottles. Sales hit ₹1,090 Cr in FY25, profits limped at ₹40 Cr, and ROCE is a tragic 0.2% – meaning the kitchen is busy but no dish is tasty enough to impress investors.
2. Introduction
Remember the iconic Sundrop Heartbeat Oil ads from the 90s? That legacy is now fighting for relevance in 2025 where millennials prefer quinoa salads, oat milk, and peanut butter smoothies. Agro Tech Foods was always a weird hybrid – selling edible oil (low margins, cyclical) alongside foods (popcorn, peanut butter, oats, chocolates).
Enter private equity (Convergent + Samara). They kicked Conagra out, rebranded the company as Sundrop Brands, and are now spending like it’s IPL auction season: ₹1,300 Cr Del Monte acquisition, more ad spends (4% of sales vs 2% earlier), and a new MD (Nitish Bajaj).
But with P/E at 78x, OPM at 3%, and PAT at just ₹40 Cr – the question is simple: are we looking at the next Marico… or just another Masico (masala story, no substance)?
3. Business Model (WTF Do They Even Do?)
Two main divisions:
Foods (55% of FY24 sales, up from 44% in FY22):
Ready-to-Cook: ACT II Popcorn (household favourite).
Ready-to-Eat: Nachos, chips.
Spreads: Sundrop Peanut Butter (competes with Nutella + homegrown Butternut).
Breakfast Cereals: Oats, muesli, cornflakes.
Chocolates & Confectionery: New entry – trying to snack into Nestlé & Mondelez turf.
Staples (45% of FY24 sales, down from 56%):
Oils (Sunflower, Rice bran, Soybean).
Premium staples like almonds & oats.
This segment has shrunk 39% in two years – edible oil volumes and prices sank harder than Titanic.
Add to that the Del Monte acquisition (sauces, dips, packaged fruits, beverages). So now Sundrop Brands is like a Big Bazaar aisle – popcorn on one side, oil tins on the other, ketchup in between.
