Compass Group India MD says company to double biz every 3 years, scout acquisition opportunities

New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) Compass Group India, part of British multinational contract food service and facility management services provider Compass Group PLC, is looking to double its business every three years in the country — a key growth market.

Besides, the company which has recently acquired ICS Foods is “very open to look” for more such opportunities to broaden its play here, said Compass Group India Managing Director Vikas Chawla.

The company, which is expanding its play into food catering opportunities, is focusing on clients from manufacturing, education and healthcare sectors, and aims to corner “above the double-digit mark” in market share in the next five years.

In the next three years, Compass Group India aims to serve over two million meals per day and increase its footprint across 600 client locations, reinforcing its leadership in the food and support services sector, he added.

“If we expand at the rate of 20-plus per cent, which we want to do, I sense that we would double our business every three odd years, which would land us in a very, very significant size from an India perspective and from a Compass Group perspective as well,” said Chawla.

He declined to share the revenue of the company. According to financial data accessed by the business intelligence platform Tofler, the consolidated revenue of Compass India Food Services stood at Rs 1,212.7 crore while its net profit was Rs 33.6 crore in the financial year ended March 2023.

The brand is serving around 0.6 million meals a day and has partnered with over 450 client locations across India.

The ambition of Compass Group India is to become a “sought-after” food company in India, where the opportunities in the food and facility management landscape are evolving, with the rise in the economy.

“With India’s dynamic economic landscape and initiatives like ‘Make in India,’ we see vast opportunities to scale our operations significantly, aiming for a ten-fold increase in offerings over the next 5-7 years,” said Chawla.

According to Chawla, the next couple of decades in India would be very strong decades of growth for Compass Group. It will continue to expand support services in key sectors like manufacturing, education and healthcare.

“Our focus is not just on growth but on delivering value that exceeds industry benchmarks. We are aligning our services closely with evolving client needs while exploring strategic acquisitions to fuel our momentum. We anticipate that 25-30 per cent of our growth in the next fiscal year will come from acquisitions, as we look to broaden our reach in key markets,” he said.

Asked whether Compass Group India will participate in any opportunity from the government-run educational institutions and schemes such as mid-day meals, Chawla said: “We would be very happy to partner because we have a maniacal focus on food safety.”

About the expansion of network in India, he said Compass Group is present in 45 cities and would focus on big markets such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai etc, rather than having a “deep expansion”.

“We would go into other cities… But it will be more opportunistic than planned expansion, per se into a very large number of cities,” he added.

India is currently among top ten markets of Compass Group PLC and according to Chawla, it has the potential to come under top five.

“We see change happening in India. If you look at employers, they want better food for their people. They are looking for food safety, which is much stronger in terms of standards than what they have been getting. If you look at hospitals, which we also cater to there, they are looking for better for their patients, as well as for their staff,” he said.

Even at educational institutions, people are beginning to think similarly about great-tasting nutrition for students.

“So everybody is changing, and I think the change will accelerate over a period of time, and that will give us significantly more growth opportunities,” Chawla added.