DS Group aims to double revenues in next 4-5 years

 Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, DS Group,

DS Group, the multi-business corporation, has crossed ₹10,000 crore in revenues in FY25 driven by food & beverage, hospitality and mouth freshener businesses. It has next set its sights on doubling its revenues to ₹20,000 crore by 2029, marking its 100^th year of existence.

Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, DS Group, told businessline, “We have closed FY25 with revenues of over ₹10,000 crore. This makes up among the top 15 FMCG companies in the country. Over the past three years, we have grown our overall revenues at 16 per cent. The food and beverage business has been growing at 19 per cent and now contributes 42 per cent of our total revenues, making it our largest category. We aim to double revenues in the next 4-5 years.”

Mouth Fresheners now contribute 38 per cent to the company’s revenues while the hospitality business contributes 3 per cent. Nearly 13 per cent comes from other businesses. “ The contribution of the tobacco business has been declining and is now less than 10 per cent,” he added.

Urban slowdown

Responding to a query on urban slowdown, Kumar said, “ Over the past year, there has been some slowdown. However, we are present in categories which are essentials. Also, we play in the premium segment and with growing disposable incomes and Indian consumers aspirations those segments continue to grow. These factors are aiding our growth. We remain bullish on India’s consumption growth story.”

In the food and beverage segment, DS Group has been foraying into value-added segments such as ready-to-cook gourmet gravies and plans to look at foraying in other adjacencies. The company’s confectionery business led by brands such as Pulse candy, has emerged as a key growth pillar. “We are the fastest-growing confectionery player. Also we have now become the second largest non-chocolate confectionery player in the country. We will continue to double-down on ethnic flavours in this segment,” Kumar added.

rural push

The company is also ramping up its rural presence with a strong focus on tier-2 and tier-3 markets. Together, all businesses account for more than 150 super stockists, over 5,000 distributors reaching out to over 15 lakh retail shops directly and over 35 lakh indirectly, pan India. The company’s mouth-freshner segment is growing at about 38 per cent.

In the dairy business, the company has a presence in select markets in the North with its brand Ksheer. “We have also launched our D2C brand Ovino which offers products based on single-origin milk sourced directly from our own farms in the Delhi-NCR region,” he added.

The company’s also betting big on the hotels business. “ We are looking to invest ₹1,000 crore in the hotels business to open 10-12 new hotels. So that is one area where it will expand aggressively,” Kumar said.

Asked about mergers and acquisitions strategy, he added, “We remain open for opportunities. But it has to come at the right valuation and fit in with our strategies. Our acquisition of brand Luvit in the chocolate space has been a strategic move. We are looking at acquisition in the hotel space for now.”

Published on April 23, 2025