Bharat Value Fund, a private equity vehicle managed by The Wealth Company, has invested Rs 300 crore ($31.3 million) in ethnic sweets and snacks brand Dharwad Big Mishra Pedha Pvt Ltd.
The investment will help Dharwad Big Mishra to transition from a regional brand to a scaled national foods platform, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
Dharwad Big Mishra, the 93-year-old company known for offering Geographical Indications-tagged Dharwad Pedha—a quintessential dairy sweet of Dharwad, Karnataka—is looking to offer its nearly 700 stock-keeping units across sweets, namkeen, and bakery items, in addition to expanding its restaurant and bakery formats pan-India.
“Bharat Value Fund’s investment brings the institutional capital, strategic expertise, and governance framework required for our next phase of growth, while allowing us to preserve the heritage and quality that have defined Dharwad Pedha for generations,” said Sanjay Ganesh Mishra, promoter of Dharwad Big Mishra Pedha.
The company, which currently serves around 10 million customers annually, operates on a franchise model with over 200 exclusive outlets across North Karnataka, Goa, and Southern Maharashtra. It aims to add 100 outlets and expand into over 50 new cities over the next two years.
The sweet manufacturer said its revenue has increased from about Rs 142 crore in FY22 to over Rs 300 crore in FY26, representing a 16% annualised growth over five years, while EBITDA margin is “healthy”.
The company also said it has invested Rs 100 crore in its manufacturing capacity over the past three years. This has created “significant headroom” for growth without the need for near-term capacity-led capital expenditure, it said.
Meanwhile, Bharat Value Fund, which recently marked the first close of its fourth fund, cited growing conviction in India’s branded regional food market as the primary driver for its investment. It added that the heritage brand was at an “inflection point” in its evolution from a regional business to a professionally scaled consumer platform.
“We believe our role is to help such regional champions scale while retaining the heritage and entrepreneurial strengths that made them successful in the first place,” said Madhu Lunawat, founder of The Wealth Company.