Over 10 companies that are in the food and food processing sector signed MoUs with the Tamil Nadu government in the presence of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at the recent TN Rising event held in Coimbatore, mostly to produce high value food products for exports.
Following some social media posts that MoUs were signed with existing food companies that do not generate skilled jobs, Tamil Nadu’s Industries Minister T.R.B. Rajaa posted on X on Thursday and Friday: “Tamil Nadu’s big push to take local iconic food brands global”; “We will go the extra mile to help our Food Industry on the whole.”
Vaishnavi Krishnan, director of Sri Krishna Sweets, said the company has projected an invest of almost ₹100 crore as it has plans to export south Indian traditional sweets. “Our sweets and savouries are made of fresh ingredients. When we ship these overseas, the shelf life needs to be extended while retaining the freshness of the product. Our export plans are still at a preliminary stage and require a lot of research. The Tamil Nadu government has taken pro-active steps to take the traditional food items to a global market and create an international identity by handholding the companies. We appreciate these supportive measures.”
According to Raja M. Shanmugam of Coimbatore-based Apex Coco and Solar Energy Limited, with veganism catching on in the western countries, there is an increasing demand for coconut milk. However, the value added coconut product market is dominated by players from the Southeast Asian countries. “This is an opportunity for India as there is a huge demand for coconut products from tropical countries. Almost 50 % of our revenue comes from export of coconut milk and coconut oil. We plan to tap the market and expand our plant by investing ₹350 crore in phases.”
Podaran Foods, based out of Kangayam, is expanding its milk-based beverages and is looking at exports too. It plans to invest ₹310 crore over three years. This not only creates nearly 300 new jobs, but also benefits the cattle farmers in rural areas.
Jegan Damodarasamy, Chief Executive Officer at Sree Annapoorna, said that with plans to add 20-30 more restaurants in three to four years and set foot in other countries too, the group is looking at total investment of more than ₹300 crore in the next three-four years. Of this, ₹150 crore will go into setting up a centralised kitchen, for which the MoU was signed recently. “Global expansion is a deeply thought process that started a few years ago. We need to minimise variations that come with human work and that requires full-fledged training. The facility we plan to create will have a training academy too,” he said.
The Minister said on X that Guidance TN is working with home grown food sector players, offering single window facilitation, policy incentives, and export supply to help them go global. The next global food story might come from Coimbatore.
“MTR Foods was acquired for 100 million dollars. Haldiram is valued at 10 billion. Why not Annapoorna? Why not Sri Krishna Sweets?” he asked.
These MoUs are not for small kitchens or shopfronts. They are for industrial-scale food manufacturing, cold chains, exports, global retail expansion, and thousands of new jobs, Mr. Rajaa said.
Published – November 28, 2025 07:46 pm IST
