SAJ Food Products (P) Ltd, the owner of popular Bisk Farm brand of biscuits, is eyeing a Rs 5,000-crore topline and an entry to the bourses via a public offer as the Calcutta-based company embarks on deepening its customer base across the country.

The company, founded by late Krishna Das Paul, is the second largest player in the east with a 25 per cent market share. It will earn 80 per cent of the projected Rs 2,100 crore gross revenue in FY23 from the east alone.

In order to beef up its pan-India presence, SAJ is bulking up the sales and distribution muscle in the south, the west and the north to penetrate deeper into the market. “Our target is to reach the Rs 5,000 crore topline in the next five years. And when we reach close to that point, it would be a good time to launch an IPO,” Vijay Kr. Singh, managing director of SAJ Foods, said.

It is the fourth largest biscuit player in the organised sector after Parle, Britannia, ITC (Sunfeast) with 4 per cent share of the national pie. SAJ believes it has the firepower to grab the third spot.

While much of the expansion of the topline would be driven by the organic route, Singh did not rule out the possibility of acquisitions along the way. “We aspire to be a food company and anything that fits the strategy will be looked into,” he added. SAJ would be interested to explore taking over a strong product or distribution company in the range of Rs 200 crore of acquisition cost.

SAJ, which hopes to expand the topline by 22 per cent in this fiscal, has four units in Bengal and one each in Bangalore and Nagpur to cater to the south and the north / west markets, respectively.

It is building the largest plant yet in Guwahati to serve the north-east sector for Rs 200 crore. The unit, when operational in the first quarter of FY24, will allow SAJ to fully utilise Bangalore and Nagpur plants for the local markets. At present, these units also send material to the east and northeast.

Going forward, the company would also consider third-party manufacturing, like most of its peers. In such a scenario, the investment in the plant will be made by the vendor while SAJ will commit 100 per cent off-take.

In order to appeal to a national audience, the company has taken Hrithik Roshan as the brand ambassador.

It will soon sign a southern star to appeal to the local market. Even as biscuit accounts for 90 per cent of the sales, SAJ has also diversified to cakes, Indian snacks and sweets which will also grow.