HyFun Foods to spin off HyFarm as separate biz vertical

Ahmedabad-based HyFun Foods Pvt Ltd plans to develop its agri-business arm HyFarm into an independent business vertical and make it a farmer connect brand, said Haresh Karamchandani, the company’s MD and CEO.

“In our business, agriculture is a big chunk and manufacturing is the second big activity, followed by sales. We have established ourselves as a strong company in terms of backward integration by sourcing the commercial crop that goes into processing. This is entirely through contract farming. We also have our seed multiplication programme,” he told businessline in an online interaction..

The company offers seed potatoes to farmers and does a lot of work to ensure it gets the right quality and quantity of raw material. While HyFun has established itself as a consumer brand, HyFarm has emerged as a procurement arm for the company.  

 Haresh Karamchandani, HyFun Foods MD and CEO

Exports to 40 nations

HyFun Foods began its operations in 2015 and produces French fries, other potato-based snacks such as aloo tikki, patties, hash browns, nuggets and flaks. Since 2021, it has begun producing dehydrated potatoes. It exports frozen potatoes to over 40 countries, and its clients include global chains such as Burger King, KFC and Walmart. 

Karamchandani said HyFarm operates a seed-to-shelf model and it has five facets. First is seed multiplication through a five-year cycle, including the generation of seed through tissue culture labs for two years. 

The second is the procurement of the commercial crop through contract farming, and the third is the storage of potatoes in the cold storage. The fourth is the processing plant, which is a state-of-the-art one, and the fifth is the supply chain reaching the last mile, either through the distributor or retailer shelf, he said.  

Adapting Europe tech

HyFun Foods primarily makes use of frozen potatoes for snacks as French fries and crisps. India has now become a good source of French fries, a global product, by adapting the right things, starting from the potato varieties, Karamchandani said.

French fries need special potato varieties with a long length. However, it is prone to accumulating sugar when put in cold storage. So, they should be less prone to sugar when stored, which also ensures the golden colour for the fries, the MD and group CEO said. 

India has adapted technology from Europe to preserve the quality of potatoes besides cold storage. This has helped the country to emerge an export hub for Asia rather than one for manufacturing. 

The country emerging as the second-largest grower of potato has helped but the processing has to improve in terms of technology and varieties, said Karamchandani. 

Alternative supplier

However, India has emerged as an important supplier to Asian countries which had been relying on the US and Europe till now for their supplies. He said, “India is emerging as an alternative supplier now.”

On Gujarat emerging as a leading exporter of frozen potato products, the MD and group CEO said one of the main reasons is that the manufacturing plant was near the area of production. Gujarat has become the leader in processing potato varieties because of its favourable agro-climatic conditions. 

One of the reasons is that Gujarat has a better day length in winter compared to northern States, which helps in better photosynthesis of the crop, giving the desired dry matter and length of the potato, said Karamchandani.

To a question on India emerging as the hub for manufacturing French fries, he said it was unlikely in the medium term.  However, it is emerging as the manufacturing hub for the entire Asia, with more farmers willing to shift to cultivating potatoes as it provides them with assured income. 

Published on April 7, 2025