‘We wish to accelerate our growth with organic and inorganic means to reach Rs 10 billion in sales in the next five years’
C L Rathi, Managing Director, Advanced Enzyme Technologies outlines his plans to Usha Sharma for imprinting and expanding his company’s footsteps in the global market
Tell us about Advanced Enzyme’s corporate history as well as its ongoing activities?
With a history spanning more than half a century, we (Advanced Enzymes Technologies (Advanced Enzymes) are leader in the production of plant, microbial and animal-based enzymes. Today, Advanced Enzymes, is the largest manufacturer of enzymes in the Indian sub-continent. With environmentally-friendly biotechnology as our base, our extensive research advances have led to the development of more than 400 unique enzyme products. Our ongoing activities focusses on the strategy on growing six-fold in the next five to eight years, which is focussed on two key pillars: capacity expansion and geographical expansion. To support these two pillars, we shall continue investing heavily into research and development. On the capacity front, we are in the final stage of commissioning the first phase of our Indore plant. This itself will increase our fermentation capacity from 160 cu m to 400 cu m. The plant is setup in such a manner that in the second phase, we shall be able to add another 600 cu m fermentation capacity with minimal incremental investment. An enzyme-dedicated 1000 cu m fermentation capacity, will be the key pillar for our growth in the coming decade. With such fermentation capacity backed with our own high yield strains and recoveries, we expect to continue our leadership in the South East Asia. On the geographical front, we have a strong presence in US and India. We are currently expanding our operations into Europe, China, Latin America and South East Asia, which are key target markets for us.
How many facilities do you have and are there any plans to expand/set up new facilities?
We have two main fermentation plants and two satellite plants for blending mixing and recovery activities. We recently added capacity of our plants, with investment of Rs 60 crore, to double our existing manufacturing capacity. Next expansion will be reviewed at the end of FY 2013.
Recently, you have commissioned a new manufacturing plant near Indore. Please share details like the total investment and how you arranged for the required funds, how much time it took for completion and what are the manufacturing plans for the new facility?
We have invested Rs 750 million for the new Indore plant. Our plans are same—manufacture enzymes for global market.
Tell us the total capacity of the new manufacturing site and by when do you plan to expand it further?
It is a 280 ton fermentation at Indore plant. We have also created the desired infrastructure to expand it to 940 ton from 280 ton whenever we feel it is necessary.
Which markets will the new facility cater to and why? What major steps are you taking towards this objective?
Global market for enzymes is very huge and we are aligning all our resources to address this need.
Presently, what is the total staff strength. What will be the staff strength post expansion?
The new plant is very automated and hence we do not expect to increase too much on head count. For our business, high automation leads to better quality. It is also more safe as well as as profitable for growth. Yet, we are adding lot of people for R&D and marketing!
How large is your product basket and do you have plans to increase it in the near future? (if yes then how many and for which categories, on what stage of completion etc.)
We have about 40+ basic enzyme production technologies and about 400+ products.
How many patents have been granted to the company and how many more are in the pipeline?
We have filed 17 patents and nine have been granted. Lot of work in R&D is going on, patent filing is an ongoing activity.
What was the company’s total earning in the last fiscal. What growth rates are you projecting from the current financial year?
We have logged sales of Rs 1.8 billion and we have been growing at 27 per cent CAGR rate for past one decade. We expect similar growth rate or higher growth rate in the near future.
The company has a wide range of products catering to different sectors. What is the total revenues contributed by the pharma sector and which sector gives major chunk of business to the company?
Pharma sector is a key pillar of our company and contributes over two-third of revenue today. We are looking to slowly reduce high dependence on this one segment and planning to balance the basket with Food, Feed, and Bio-catalysis.
Please share company’s future plans.
Advanced Enzyme Technologies is poised to grow rapidly and profitably! We are now looking at alliances in every segment to assist us to grow globally. We are a very small company on “global business map” and wish to accelerate our growth with organic and inorganic means to reach Rs 10 billion in sales in the next five years. We also expect to establish manufacturing, R&D, and marketing in all key markets—Europe, China, NAFTA, etc.
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