Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), Mar 9 (TNT): Gourmet Popcornica Private Limited, India’s largest popcorn company and the fourth largest globally, is aiming to increase its share of the domestic popcorn kernel market to 60–65 per cent over the next two years, its Managing Director S. B. P. Pattabhi Rama Rao said.
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Chennai, the company currently supplies popcorn to more than 2,200 cinemas and retail outlets across the country.It also supplies popcorn maize to large popcorn manufacturers, supermarkets and over 100 bulk commodity traders.
Addressing the media during the recent press tour at its facility Musunuru, about 70 kms from here, Pattabhi said popcorn cultivation in India has grown rapidly in recent years.
While maize was not originally native to the country, it has become the third-largest cereal crop in India after paddy and wheat over the past six to seven decades, and a similar growth trend is now being seen in popcorn cultivation, he said.
The company has expanded its cultivation area from about 840 acres to nearly 36,000 acres over the past eight years, while the total popcorn cultivation area in India is estimated at around 1.3 lakh acres.
It currently works with about 17,500 farmers across nine states and continues to test cultivation in different climatic zones to further expand production, he said.
“Our objective is not to concentrate cultivation in one location but to spread it across multiple states after studying climate conditions and agricultural practices,” he said.
According to him, the domestic popcorn kernel market is estimated at about ₹1,000 crore, with the company currently holding around 40 per cent market share.
Gourmet Popcornica has invested nearly ₹100 crore over the past four years in expanding processing infrastructure, including drying and storage facilities in states such as Chhattisgarh, he said.
The company has also introduced mechanised farming practices, seed support programmes and buy-back arrangements for farmers, which have helped increase yields and improve incomes.
He said the company began its operations through a strategic partnership with Preferred Popcorn of the United States, combining global farming expertise with local cultivation and processing.
As part of its mechanisation efforts, the company plans to introduce corn cob harvesters this year and aims to mechanise harvesting on at least 10 per cent of the 36,000 acres under cultivation by 2026, he said .
After harvest, wet corn cobs are transported to the company’s processing facility at Musunuru in Andhra Pradesh, where they are dried, sorted, processed and stored in cold storage before dispatch.
Pattabhi said illicit imports and under-invoicing pose a challenge to the domestic industry, accounting for nearly 23.5 per cent of the Indian popcorn maize market.
He called for policy measures such as the introduction of a minimum import price to protect domestic farmers.
He said the company’s revenue is projected to reach about ₹450 crore in FY2025–26, a growth of 30 per cent, and is expected to increase to about ₹560 crore in FY2026–27.
company CEO Yugandhar Yanamadala also present.
TNT TS
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