PSL shifts growth to Namkeen and Pellets as Rings declines

Prataap Snacks Limited (PSL) is shifting more of its growth effort to Namkeen and Pellets after Rings revenue declined at a 9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from FY21 to FY26. Rings’ revenue index fell from 100 to 63 and its share of PSL revenue dropped from about 40% to about 10%, while Pellets grew 2.5 times and Namkeen doubled.

Why is PSL reducing its reliance on Rings?

PSL is reducing reliance on Rings because the category declined between FY21 and FY26 while the rest of its portfolio expanded. The Rings revenue index fell from 100 in FY21 to 63 in FY26, representing a 9% negative CAGR, whereas the non-Rings revenue index increased from 100 to 176 over the same five years, a 12% CAGR.

PSL attributes the Rings decline to COVID-induced restrictions, including the interruption of students attending school for nearly two years. Rings is identified in the company’s consumer map as a product aimed at children, and PSL says the category lost momentum over the past five years despite the company continuing to describe itself as the category market leader.

The change has materially altered the portfolio mix. Rings accounted for about 40% of PSL revenue in FY21 but about 10% by FY26, according to the presentation. PSL has not classified Rings as a discontinued product: it remains an anchor product alongside Chips and Chulbule, with plans for premiumisation, flavour-led growth, leadership reinforcement and greater penetration in weaker markets.

How are Namkeen and Pellets replacing Rings as growth drivers?

PSL is designating Namkeen and Pellets as growth products because both categories have expanded while Rings contracted. Pellets grew 2.5 times from 2021 to 2026, and the Namkeen business doubled in the last five years. The company presents these results as evidence that it can build categories beyond the earlier Rings-led model.

Pellets sit within PSL’s extruded-snacks portfolio, which also includes Rings, Kurves, Puff, Stix and Chulbule. During 2020 to 2024, PSL expanded Pellets across India using knowhow from the Avadh Snacks acquisition, while commissioning facilities in Kolkata and Jammu for extruded snacks. This expansion differs from Rings’ FY21-to-FY26 revenue-index decline of 37 points.

Namkeen has a different target consumer base from Rings in PSL’s product map. Yellow Diamond and NAAH NAMKEEN Namkeen products are directed at youth and adults or families, while Rings is aimed at children. PSL says Namkeen has a larger addressable market and a longer growth runway, while making clear that further scale remains an objective rather than a quantified outcome.

The growth-products range includes Papdi Gathiya, Katori Tomato and Aloo Bhujia. PSL’s stated approach is to use value-driven offerings, regional-specific products and innovation-led differentiation. This makes Namkeen and Pellets complementary to the anchor portfolio rather than direct substitutes for every established product category.

What is PSL doing to expand Namkeen distribution?

PSL is expanding Namkeen by adding regional products and improving availability across its existing network. Namkeen is present at about 7 lakh of PSL’s roughly 25 lakh touchpoints, meaning the category currently reaches less than one-third of the reported network. The company identifies wider availability as a route to further scale.

PSL says it has enriched the Namkeen range with region-specific stock-keeping units, or SKUs, and augmented offerings in sub-categories including mixtures and nuts. It also commissioned the Rajkot-2 facility in Gujarat for Namkeen snacks during 2020 to 2024. These steps pair distribution expansion with a broader assortment rather than relying on a single national product format.

The regional plan divides markets into command, expand and maintain regions. In command regions, PSL plans deeper retail penetration, higher shelf share, larger packs and growth investment. In expand regions, it plans to broaden distribution, deepen rural reach, develop regional products and reinforce wholesale, actions that align with Namkeen’s regional-product strategy.

PSL has also adjusted its manufacturing footprint in 2025 and 2026. It added third-party facilities in Hazaribag and Gwalior, established a third-party facility in Tumkur, Karnataka, and closed facilities in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kanpur. Separately, it acquired RLOP Foods, which holds leasehold industrial land rights for a proposed greenfield manufacturing facility near Indore.

How does PSL classify its wider product portfolio?

PSL classifies Chips, Chulbule and Rings as anchor products, Pellets and Namkeen as growth products, and premium flavours and Popcorn as next products. The structure retains investment priorities for established products while assigning new scale objectives to categories that have grown since 2021.

For anchor products, PSL lists premiumisation, flavour-led growth, reinforcing leadership and improving penetration in weaker markets. This means the strategic shift does not assume Rings will disappear from the portfolio. Rather, the company is seeking to reduce the impact of a category that had fallen to about 10% of revenue by FY26.

For next products, PSL identifies premium flavours and Popcorn, citing Chilli, Popcorn and Black Truffle as examples. Its stated plan is premium-flavour or “better for you” positioning and channel-specific execution. This third tier is distinct from the value-led and regional approach set out for Namkeen and Pellets.

PSL frames the current plan against its earlier experience with Rings. It says Rings grew 3.6 times during 2014 to 2018, before its FY21-to-FY26 decline. Management now describes Pellets’ 2.5-times growth from 2021 to 2026 as a replication of category-building capability, with Namkeen identified as the subsequent opportunity.

Which channels will support PSL’s category expansion?

PSL plans to use quick commerce, modern trade, exports and institutions to increase the reach of larger packs and selected category offerings. Management targets emerging channels to rise from less than 1% of revenue to more than 5% within three years. The presentation does not provide separate revenue figures for Namkeen, Pellets or any individual emerging channel.

For quick commerce, PSL says it has launched on multiple platforms, is building a dedicated team and is widening the number of products, variants and SKUs distributed through the channel. It made investments in alternative channels, notably quick commerce, in the second half of FY26, with management expecting outcomes to materialise over the coming quarters.

In modern trade, PSL says it is listed with a leading chain, is investing in sales promoters and merchandisers, and is developing channel-exclusive large-pack Namkeens. The company also reports regular export distribution in seven countries and says it is targeting additional cities and regions with sizeable Indian diaspora populations.

These channel efforts fit the broader transformation plan, which lists portfolio revamping, operational efficiency and margin focus, regional growth, technology-enabled execution, channel diversification and brand building. The disclosed measures show the operational route for the portfolio shift, but PSL has not specified a revenue target or timetable for Pellets or Namkeen individually.

Conclusion

PSL’s portfolio repositioning follows sharply different category trends from FY21 to FY26. Rings declined at a 9% CAGR and fell from about 40% to about 10% of revenue, while non-Rings revenue rose at a 12% CAGR. Pellets, up 2.5 times, and Namkeen, up two times, have therefore become the company’s identified growth products alongside its continuing anchor categories.

The next disclosed markers are Namkeen’s expansion beyond about 7 lakh touchpoints, the rollout of regional SKUs and the three-year target to raise emerging-channel revenue from less than 1% to more than 5%. PSL also plans a proposed greenfield facility near Indore, while management expects the quick-commerce investments made in the second half of FY26 to begin producing outcomes over coming quarters.