Surya Food & Agro

Sector: Biscuits & FMCG  |  HQ: Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India  |  Founded: 1992  |  Employees: 3,000+

Listed as: Privately held  | 

Company overview

Surya Food & Agro is the maker of the Priyagold range of biscuits, cookies and confectionery, one of the better known regional biscuit brands in north and east India. The company was founded in 1992 by Bahubali Shanthilal Bothra and is headquartered in Greater Noida, with manufacturing facilities in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The Priyagold portfolio spans glucose, marie, cream sandwich, cookies, premium cookies, crackers and confectionery, sold across more than half a million retail outlets in India. The Bothra family controls the company and has built it into a meaningful challenger to the larger biscuit majors of Britannia and Parle, with a particularly strong position in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and parts of the north east. The company has periodically reported plans to expand into new categories and to file for an initial public offering, although as of 2025 it remains privately held.

Financial performance and recent trajectory

Disclosed revenue (FY25): ₹1,400 crore (FY 2024-25 estimate).

Competitive position

Surya Food & Agro competes in the Indian biscuit market that is dominated by Britannia Industries, Parle Products and ITC Sunfeast. The next tier of national and regional players includes Anmol Industries, Bonn Industries, Cremica, Dukes and Surya itself. Within that second tier Surya is among the larger by revenue and the most geographically diversified within north and east India. Its Priyagold brand is recognised in mass and mid market segments and the company has been a price aggressive challenger in the value cream sandwich and cookies segments. It is not a major player in the south, where Britannia and regional players dominate, although it has built capacity in Tamil Nadu to address that geography.

Key risks

Raw material price volatility (wheat, sugar, palm oil) Intense competition from Britannia, Parle and ITC Low margins relative to scale players

Outlook

Surya Food & Agro was incorporated in 1992 by Bahubali Shanthilal Bothra to manufacture biscuits under the Priyagold brand. The company set up its first plant at Surajpur in Greater Noida in 1993 and entered the market at a time when the Indian biscuit industry was being reshaped by the rise of mass market glucose and cream biscuits. Over the next three decades the company expanded capacity, broadened its portfolio and built distribution across northern, eastern and central India. Priyagold became a household name in many tier 2 and tier 3 markets, particularly in the cream sandwich and butter cookies segments where Surya invested in advertising and on shelf visibility. The product portfolio is anchored in the Priyagold brand and includes glucose biscuits under names such as Priyagold Glucose, butter biscuits, marie, salt crackers under the CNC brand, cream sandwich biscuits under Don and Magic Gold, cookies under Butter Bite and Choco, premium cookies under Snacks Up and similar names, and chocolate confectionery and rusks. The company has also forayed into namkeen and ready to eat segments. Manufacturing is concentrated at the Surajpur plant in Greater Noida and a south India plant in Tamil Nadu, with additional capacity at third party contract manufacturing sites. The Surajpur plant is one of the largest single location biscuit plants in north India, with multiple lines covering hard dough biscuits, soft dough cookies, cream sandwich and crackers. Distribution is through a network of more than 1,500 distributors covering more than five lakh retail outlets across India, with the strongest density in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and the north east. The company runs both general trade and modern trade channels and has invested in regional sales infrastructure to push penetration. Financial trajectory has been steady. The company reported revenue of around ₹1,200 crore in FY 2023-24 according to public filings of its consolidated parent and trade press estimates, with FY 2024-25 revenue estimated at around ₹1,400 crore reflecting price increases and volume growth in core categories. Margins have historically been thinner than at Britannia and Parle because of the price aggressive positioning and lower scale. The company has periodically reported intent to file for an initial public offering. Public filings indicate that Surya Food & Agro filed a draft red herring prospectus in 2011 that was later withdrawn, and the company has been reported in trade press as exploring fresh IPO plans through the 2020s. As of 2025 it remains unlisted. Strategy from 2025 to 2030 is likely to focus on continued geographic expansion into the south and the west, premium category additions in cookies and crackers, packaging innovation, and direct to consumer or modern trade plays to capture higher margin urban consumers. The company has also explored snacks and confectionery as adjacent growth vectors. The regulatory environment is shaped by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for product specifications, labelling and advertising, the Legal Metrology Act for net quantity declarations, the Bureau of Indian Standards for certain product categories, and the Companies Act 2013 for corporate compliance as a private company. Excise and goods and services tax compliance for sugar, palm oil and wheat flour intensive products is a significant ongoing matter. Risks include raw material price volatility for wheat, sugar, palm oil and milk based ingredients, intense competition from larger and better capitalised peers, channel inventory pressures in slowdown periods, the persistent threat from local and unbranded biscuits in price sensitive markets, and the operational complexity of running a multi state distribution network. Management is family led under the Bothra family, with Bahubali Shanthilal Bothra as chairman and the next generation in operational roles. The professional team has been strengthened with hires from larger FMCG companies in sales, supply chain and marketing. ESG initiatives include continued work on responsible sourcing of palm oil and wheat, energy efficiency at the Surajpur and Tamil Nadu plants, plastic packaging waste management through EPR partners, and community engagement near plants. Governance follows Companies Act norms with auditor and committee oversight.

KAMRIT point of view

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Disclaimer: This profile is compiled by KAMRIT Financial Services LLP for educational and benchmarking purposes only. It is not investment advice, a recommendation to buy or sell securities, or a solicitation. Stock data is provided by Yahoo Finance and may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Company financial commentary draws on publicly available filings, exchange disclosures, and KAMRIT industry research. Readers should consult a SEBI-registered investment adviser before making investment decisions. KAMRIT is a financial services and compliance firm, not a SEBI-registered investment adviser.