Italian Edibles is a confectionery maker that turned a family’s plastic-shoe factory into a sweets business in 2009, and it has been scaling one product category at a time ever since. The company listed on the NSE SME platform in February 2024 and now runs a single factory in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, where it makes more than 56 items - from milk-based mithai to jelly lollipops - for distributors across 13 Indian states and for export markets. Its recurring approach is to spot a niche in the crowded Indian sweets market - it claims to have been the first to make its popular “Milk Paste” - and then stretch that recipe into a full portfolio while keeping production in-house. # Business segments A single engine - confectionery manufacturing - that is being expanded with a second factory and a new line of wafer and cocoa-based products, both under construction. ## 1. Confectionery manufacturing: the group’s only revenue engine **One factory in Indore makes over 56 confectionery items and sells them through a distributor network spanning 13 states, with a second factory and a chocolate line on the way.** - **One factory, many formats** - the company operates a single manufacturing site at Palda, Indore, where it produces sugar-boiled candies, jelly confectionery, milk-based sweets, wafer biscuits, fruit pastes, and chocolate paste, all under one roof. That means it can switch lines to match demand without relying on third-party plants. - **Sold through distributors, not direct** - products reach retail outlets, supermarkets, and online platforms via a distributor and dealer network across Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. The company tracks secondary sales down to the end retailer so it can plan production and replenish stock before shelves run empty. - **Exports are small but present** - the company earned about ₹6.8 crore from exports and deemed exports in FY25, which means it already meets the food-safety standards required for international markets even though the domestic business is far larger. - **A related-party workshop fills the gaps** - Nutrabella Foods LLP, an entity controlled by the CEO’s family, takes raw materials and printed packaging from Italian Edibles, manufactures and packages finished goods, and delivers them back. This gives the company a flexible overflow capacity without owning the assets, though the arrangement is benchmarked against third-party quotes. - **Competes on variety, not price alone** - the Indian confectionery market is highly competitive, so the company leans on an in-house R&D unit that develops new flavours and formats, including dual-colour filling systems for jelly lollipops and a sugar-grinding mechanism for finer texture. ## 2. Capacity expansion: the second factory under construction **A 100,000 sq. ft. greenfield plant is being built on newly acquired land, with commercial production now targeted for January 2027 after repeated delays.** - **Land was bought with IPO proceeds** - the company acquired the site at Village Aranya, District Indore, on March 29, 2024, and the board approved the expansion plan as part of the IPO’s stated use of funds. - **The budget has more than doubled** - the project cost was revised from ₹9.61 crore to roughly ₹22 crore, with the extra ₹12.39 crore coming from fresh borrowings, unallocated IPO funds, and internal cash generation. That reflects a decision to add more floor space and superior machinery rather than just replicate the existing plant. - **Timeline has slipped by over a year** - construction began on March 15, 2025, but the completion date has been pushed to October 2026, with machinery installation in December 2026 and commercial production in January 2027. The company cites regulatory approvals, iron-price fluctuations, PEB steel supply disruptions, skilled-labour shortages, heavy rainfall, and a state-government halt on stone mining as the reasons. - **New product lines are part of the plan** - once the building is up and the machinery is installed, the company intends to add product lines beyond its current range, though it has not specified which ones. ## 3. Wafer and cocoa-based products: the next category bet **A ₹21 crore investment will add 4,000 tonnes of capacity for blister chocolate, moulded chocolate, wafers, choco éclair lollipops, and jelly cups, with a launch pencilled for July 2026.** - **A deliberate move into chocolate** - the board approved the portfolio expansion on December 31, 2025, targeting both domestic and international markets with five new product formats that sit next to the existing sugar and jelly range. - **Existing lines are running at 65%** - the current plant has 6,500 tonnes of capacity, so the new 4,000-tonne addition will raise total capacity by more than half, to be added within six to eight months of the approval. - **Funded by a mix of cash and a machinery loan** - roughly ₹6 crore is earmarked for building and construction and ₹15 crore for plant and machinery, financed through internal accruals and term loans. The company has already signed a ₹6.36 crore term-loan agreement with Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services, secured against a fixed deposit and the machinery itself. # Group structure and partners **The company has no subsidiaries or joint ventures, but it runs a tight operational loop with a family-controlled contract manufacturer that handles overflow production.** - **A standalone entity with no equity links** - Italian Edibles has no subsidiaries, joint ventures, or associate companies, so all consolidation risk sits at the parent level. - **Nutrabella Foods LLP is the key related party** - the CEO, Akshay Makhija, holds a 90% stake in Nutrabella, which has been associated with Italian Edibles since its incorporation in May 2018. The LLP produces and sells confectionery items using raw materials and packaging supplied by Italian Edibles, effectively acting as a dedicated contract manufacturer. - **The arrangement is priced against the market** - the company obtains competitive quotes from other suppliers and presents them to the Audit Committee before approving transactions with Nutrabella, with a proposed annual value of ₹200 million - roughly 23.5% of the company’s consolidated turnover. - **Banking relationships are spread across lenders** - the company works with HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Central Bank of India for its main banking, and has term loans and vehicle finance from a range of banks and NBFCs including Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Standard Chartered, and IDFC First Bank.