Tasty Bite to expand its presence in Europe, Asia and Oceania

Preferred Brands International, a US-based producer of Indian and Asian foods owned by Mars, has announced its intention to expand its Tasty Bite brand in European and Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

The move comes as the Connecticut-based company claims it wants to increase its production capacity and expand its global reach.

Mars acquired Preferred Brands International last year, and Tasty Bite has utilised the Mars network to enter the European market.

Tasty Bite’s consumer product portfolio includes a variety of microwaveable food products including rice, noodles as well as Indian and Thai entrées.

No plans to expand production infrastructure have been announced at this time, though the company made clear that this would be necessary in future to address increasing demand in new markets.

Ashok Vasudevan, chief executive, Preferred Brands International said: “Our Pune unit is working at full capacity. Mars has a food line and production facilities in different parts of the world. It is our facility now and the capacity can be expanded easily.

“We have three facilities at Pune making ready-to-serve, sauce and frozen products. We have the capacity to make 40,000 tonnes per annum. The goal is to double it every three years.”

The brand also operates a foodservice business in India which provides sauces and pies to various restaurants.

Vasudvan added: “We will replicate the success of Tasty Bite in other markets and take the food service business globally.”