Calcutta, March 20: After buying out Hindustan Lever’s Dalda brand, Bunge Agribusiness India Pvt Ltd, is planning fresh acquisitions both in the vanaspati and edible oil segments. The company is a subsidiary of New-York-based Bunge Limited.

Vice-president Shvetal Vakil said, “As a new entrant in India, we see acquisition as the best tool to grow. At the moment, we are not open to the idea of setting up manufacturing units.”

The company is looking at acquiring vanaspati brands that have a strong presence in north India. North India and south India are the main markets for vanaspati.

The company has drawn up plans to “re-launch and revitalise” the Dalda vanaspati brand. The company acquired the brand from Hindustan Lever in August 2003 along with the latter’s entire edible oil and fats business in India and Nepal.

Dalda’s formidable seven-decade-old brand legacy had made vanaspati virtually synonymous with it. However, business had suffered in recent times.

The country’s annual consumption of vanaspati (hydrogenated vegetable oil) is currently estimated at about 1.3 million tonnes, of which the branded segment comprises 25 per cent.

“The value perception of vanaspati among households has steadily come down and refined oils have filled up the resulting vacuum. However, edible oil and fats form part of our core business. We look forward to not only re-launching and revitalising the Dalda brand but also extending it to packaged edible oils and other cooking mediums such as ghee and margarine,” Vakil said.

The brand re-vitalisation plan would involve “transformation of the way food looks and tastes” and also a “novel 422-town direct consumer contact programme” for Dalda.

Bunge took over HLL’s entire Rs 390-crore edible oils and fats business for a ‘slump sale’ consideration of Rs 90 crore. The acquisition included the manufacturing facility at Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu, and the right to use HLL's distribution network for Dalda and extension brands such as Masterline, Gold Seal, Marvo, Biskin and Lily for a fee. Bunge also took over the assets of Indore-based Prestige Foods in September 2003.

This included an oilseeds processing unit at Pithampur (near Indore) with a production capacity of 150 tonnes per day of refined oil and 100 tonnes per day of vanaspati.

Bunge also owns the Chambal refined oil brand and a manufacturing plant at Bundi in Rajasthan. The company is the largest soyabean oil shipper to India, accounting for 4.2 lakh tonnes or 30 per cent of the total quantity imported by the country.