1. 48-year-old Amit Kumar returned to India after he could not find a job. He opened a chemical dye business called “Dealinchem” in 1999, but failed. In less than a year, Amit had piled up a debt of 6 CR.
2. He thought of helping out in his father’s clothing business in Indore. He worked hard and started repaying his debts. But started losing respect as well. Everyone thought he was hiding behind his father. So, Amit decided to leave the business to start something of his own. 🙌
3. While thinking of ideas, he landed up on” Peppy Cheese Balls”. He wanted to sell them in the underpenetrated markets of Indore. So, Amit met his brother’s classmate and took 15 Lakhs on a promise to return if this venture failed. In 2002, Prakash Snacks was born. 🚀
4. The idea was simple ⏩ Import cheese balls from Lucknow and process them at a small 100 sq ft office in Indore’s Navlakha locality. The product became a hit and landed revenues of 22 Lakhs in the first year and 7 CR by the third year. ✅
5. With the roaring success, Amit started his factory in Indore (2006). He produced potato chips under “Yellow Diamonds” and launched a competition to Pepsi’s famous “Kurkure” called “Chulbule”. With new products, Amit entered Delhi and Haryana. He thought he had it until he faced failure once again. 👇
6. The 4000 CR Haldirams and 1500 CR Balaji Wafers had shadowed Yellow Diamonds and Chulbule. So, Amit loaded his 5 Rs pack with 30 gm chips compared to the 22 gm offered by the rivals. The high-value idea worked as Prakash Snacks went from 1% to 4% market share. 📉
7. Focusing on 99% of products at the super affordable Rs 5, Prakash Snacks entered Mumbai and Pune too. The distribution requests came up from even rural parts of India. Finally, Amit incorporated a new company and merged Prakash into it. In 2010, Prataap Snacks started. 🚀
8. By 2011, Prataap Snacks had doubled its capacity to 12,500 metric tons via another plant in Indore. It became a 150 CR company. Seeing the success, Sequoia Capital finally invested 62 CR in 2012. 💸
9. With capital, Prataap entered another category of Rings and commissioned a factory in Guwahati for it. Aimed at kids, Amit started putting toys inside rings and increased quantity by another 25%. To promote further, He also roped in Salman Khan as the brand ambassador in 2016.
10. Salman and the kids took the brand to an 800-CR company in 2017. Next year, Prataap Snacks got listed on NSE and BSE. Its IPO oversubscribed by a whopping 47 times. 📉
11. Post IPO, it expanded into Nachos and Sweets. Prataap Snacks became a 1400 CR brand with a presence in 1.7 million outlets. It sold over 11 million packets daily, and the competition was finally shackled. 💪
➡️The giant Haldirams offered to buy Prataap Snacks for around 3000 CR.
Amit has shown that “Dildaar hai Hum” is not just his brand tagline but that of his life, too.