Ceeta Industries is a packaged-snack maker that pivoted sharply from a decades-old industrial past - it once made cement poles, granite and essential oils - and found its footing only in late 2022 when it started producing potato chips and extruded snacks under the “Skitos” brand from a single factory in Tumkur, Karnataka. The company is run by the founding Poddar family, led by a managing director with over 50 years in industry, and it operates with no subsidiaries or joint ventures. The recurring approach is to use a compact, modern manufacturing base to serve two demand streams at once - its own value-branded snacks and drinks, and contract production for other FMCG companies - while a small treasury operation puts surplus cash to work on the side. # Business segments Three engines, two of them intertwined - a branded-snack and contract-manufacturing platform built on a single South Indian plant, a tiny fruit-drink extension that rides the same brand, and a legacy treasury desk that lends out spare funds. ## 1. Packaged snacks: the factory that feeds two businesses **One Tumkur plant makes potato chips, extruded snacks and fryums for the company’s own “Skitos” brand and for other FMCG clients on a job-work basis - so every line hour earns revenue from someone.** - **Dual revenue model under one roof** - the company sells Skitos-branded snacks to retail channels and simultaneously manufactures snacks for third-party FMCG clients under contract, which means the plant stays busy even when its own-brand demand fluctuates. - **Low-price packs drive penetration** - Skitos is sold in ₹5 and ₹10 packs, a pricing strategy that has helped it reach tier-2 and tier-3 cities, because small packs lower the trial barrier for first-time buyers. - **Continuous-process plant with in-house tweaks** - the machinery is classified as a 25-year continuous processing line, and the company has added a potato grader (to keep soil out of the slicer), a de-oiling belt that saves roughly 4% oil on pellet products, and online metal detection for food safety. - **Water and heat from biomass** - a 140 KLD effluent treatment plant recycles 80% of discharged water, and biomass briquettes generate process heat, which cuts both input costs and environmental levies. - **No single-customer dependency** - as of FY24, no customer accounted for more than 10% of revenue, so the loss of any one contract or retail chain would not cripple the top line. ## 2. Skitos Fruit Drink: the brand extension **A fruit-based drink range launched under the same Skitos name, using the snack brand’s distribution reach to get on the same shelves.** - **Same brand, wider basket** - the drink was launched in FY25 to appeal to a broader audience, so the Skitos name now covers both salty snacks and sweet beverages, giving retailers a fuller range from one supplier. - **Early-stage line with no separate factory** - the drink range is produced within the existing Tumkur setup, meaning it adds revenue without requiring a standalone plant or a new workforce. ## 3. Other Operations: the treasury desk **A small, long-running side business that earns interest and fees from short-term lending, trading and brokerage - a legacy from the company’s pre-snack days.** - **Surplus funds put to work** - the company gives inter-corporate loans backed by reasonable securities, generating interest income alongside rent, dividends and gains on investments. - **Tiny asset base, separate from snacks** - this segment held assets of less than ₹10 lakh in FY25, so it is a financial sideline rather than a capital-hungry operation. # Group structure and partners **A standalone, family-controlled public company with no subsidiaries - the Poddar family holds the reins, and a single bank relationship secures the factory.** - **No subsidiaries or joint ventures** - the company operates as a single legal entity, which keeps the structure simple and means all assets and cash flows sit in one listed vehicle. - **One banking relationship, secured by group support** - all property, plant and equipment are charged to Canara Bank against a ₹9.25 crore term loan and a ₹3 crore overdraft facility, backed by a corporate guarantee from a group company. - **Small stakes in related entities** - the company holds non-current equity investments in two unquoted firms under common control, Himalaya Granite Ltd. and Kingstone Krystals Ltd., plus non-convertible debentures of Unity Small Finance Bank.