Spice Lounge Food Works Charts ₹1,200 Crore Path Into Food Emulsifiers, Agro Business

 Listed hospitality and food company launches a new Food Emulsifier & Agro Division, anchoring on functional ingredients to turn a cost centre into its next big revenue line

Hyderabad, Aug 31: Spice Lounge Food Works Limited is chasing a ₹1,200 crore revenue opportunity with the launch of a new Food Emulsifier & Agro Division, as the company looks beyond its restaurants and live-events business into the ingredient supply chain that feeds them.

The new division's headline product is food emulsifiers, the functional ingredients that determine texture, shelf life and stability in processed foods, a segment the company is entering alongside broader agri-sourcing and agro-chemical supply. Spice Lounge Food Works says the category is a deliberate choice: emulsifiers are high-specification and regulated, which the company sees as a defensible entry point rather than a commodity trade it would have to win on price alone.

AT A GLANCE

₹1,200 crore  Total expected revenue across the new division

₹320 crore  Food emulsifiers and specialty ingredient supply

₹360 crore  Contract farming and sourcing

₹280 crore  B2B and institutional ingredient supply

₹240 crore  Export and global partnerships

Raw material and packaging typically make up the single largest cost line for a restaurant and food-service business, and Spice Lounge Food Works has framed the move as an attempt to capture margin that currently sits with third-party intermediaries. The company said the division is also designed to stand on its own commercially, supplying hotels, quick-service chains and other food processing units, rather than serving only its in-house restaurant and events brands.

“The Food Emulsifier & Agro Division is a natural extension of everything we have built at Spice Lounge. We have spent years perfecting what happens in the kitchen and on stage; this takes us a step further back, to where the ingredients themselves are grown and processed. It gives us control, it gives us margin, and it gives us an entirely new business to build,” said Mr. Mohan Karjela, Managing Director of Spice Lounge Food Works Ltd.

Spice Lounge Food Works said it is in advanced, confidential talks with global food emulsifier and agribusiness majors over potential strategic partnerships, technology tie-ups and offtake arrangements, though it has not named any of the parties involved and cautioned that no agreement has yet been signed.

Timing favours the company: India's food processing industry, valued at roughly ₹30.5 lakh crore (about US$354.5 billion) in 2024, is projected to reach ₹45.8 lakh crore (about US$535 billion) by the end of FY26 and roughly US$700 billion by 2030, according to IBEF estimates, with the broader Indian agricultural market pegged at US$471 billion in 2026. Government schemes such as the PLI Scheme for Food Processing have continued to draw fresh private investment into sourcing, processing and cold-chain infrastructure, a tailwind the company is counting on to support its own push into the segment.

Spice Lounge Food Works Limited, formerly Shalimar Agencies Limited, is a diversified hospitality and lifestyle company with interests spanning food, beverage, nightlife and experiential platforms, including its live-events vertical Xora World. The Food Emulsifier & Agro Division marks the company's first move into the ingredient and agribusiness supply chain, and executives have not given a specific timeline for when the ₹1,200 crore revenue target is expected to be reached.