Otsuka Foods Co., which ushered in Japan's retort food revolution with its "Bon Curry" product half a century ago, is trying its luck in India, the home of curry.
Otsuka Foods says it has established Otsuka Foods India Pvt. Ltd. to sell retort curry and curry buns at corporate and factory cafeterias from around October.
Capitalized at 172.5 million rupees ($2.53 million), the Indian subsidiary in Bengaluru in the southern state of Karnataka will outsource production and market products such as Bon Curry, the world's first commercial retort food product, and Bon Curry buns initially in southern India.
Otsuka Foods India will also hire local staff for research and development to enhance its product lineup, including those for vegetarian consumers, an Otsuka Foods spokesman told NNA.
Otsuka Foods, a food business unit of Otsuka Holdings Co., a widely diversified group of companies from consumer products to pharmaceutical and nutraceutical items, has picked India as its second overseas market after China because of its large population and robust economy, the spokesman added.
Otsuka Foods indicates that it may build an independent factory in India and deliver products to supermarkets in the next three to five years. (NNA/Kyodo)
