MUMBAI: Tata Consumer Products, which began as a tea joint venture with British firm Finlay, has crossed Rs 20,000 crore in annual revenues, marking what chairman N Chandrasekaran called the completion of its transformation into a multi-category consumer goods group.The company has built its newer “growth” businesses —packaged foods, pantry staples and ready-to-drink beverages — through a mix of organic expansion and acquisitions, and they now account for more than 30% of its India portfolio. Chandrasekaran told shareholders he expects recent acquisitions — Capital Foods, Soulfull and Organic India — to grow at 25% a year.The three operate at gross margins of 48%, compared with 3536% for the rest of the portfolio.The company launched around 80 products in FY26. Innovation accounts for 4.5% of sales, against a target of 5%. R&D spending remains modest, around Rs 70 crore, or less than 0.5% of revenues, though Chandrasekaran said investment would increase. Capital expenditure typically runs at 2.4-2.5% of turnover, and combined with R&D amounts to around 3% of revenues. Capex will rise to Rs 700 crore in FY27, driven by a new tea extraction unit.The chairman said Tata Consumer would continue to acquire to fill portfolio gaps and that margins would remain a focus.Tata Starbucks, its joint venture (JV) with the American coffee chain, turned EBIT and EBITDA positive in FY26 and now operates 502 stores in India. Chandrasekaran said the JV plans to add 50 to 100 stores a year, and that he and his Starbucks partner believed the business could eventually scale to 8,000 stores in India.
