Gujarat-based Hyfun Foods —a supplier of frozen potato products for global chains like Walmart, KFC and Burger King — now plans to process onions by roping in farmers through contract farming in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

“The contract farming model, which we have established for potatoes, can be replicated for onions. Every year we see a lot of fluctuations in onion prices which is primarily due to lack of storage and infrastructure. We will be starting from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh where no one is engaged in contract farming,” said Haresh Karamchandani, Managing Director and CEO of Hyfun Group.

The company plans to start planting onion crop on a trial basis in these two states in November 2025. In the next 3-4 years, it also plans to enter the onion processing segment where it will deal with frozen onion products like onion cubes and slices. These will be convenience products from HoReCA (Hotel, Restaurant and Catering) channels and QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) industry. “In the case of potatoes, we started with the right variety. Then we grew that variety, stored it and then processed it. We will be procuring onions through a similar model by supplying good quality seeds to the farmers. Once procured, we will be storing it. We will be supplying fresh onions and will also be processing it. One segment of processing will deal with dehydrated onions and another will be frozen products and vacuum packed onions,” Karamchandani said. The onion processing plants are likely to be set up in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

The company began potato processing in 2015, when it engaged around 200 farmers in North Gujarat to produce 10,000 metric tonnes of potatoes. In 2025, the company is planning to produce 4 lakh metric tonnes of potatoes by engaging 7,500 farmers, most of whom are located in the potato-growing belt of Banaskantha and Sabarkantha districts of North Gujarat.

Potato processing expansion

“We are already undertaking contract farming for potato in Madhya Pradesh since last 4 years, ” While majority of the potatoes are sourced from Gujarat, the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh will be an additional source for the company. “We have been working in the Malwa region which covers Indore, Ujjain, Shahjahanpur, Dewas and Chhindwara. We will be putting up a ₹500 crore potato processing plant in Madhya Pradesh between Indore and Ujjain,” he said. This will be the company’s first potato processing unit outside Gujarat.

Hyfun will be doubling its capacity for producing French Fries and Hash Browns which are largely exported to over 40 countries including the United States and Canada. The company will be investing ₹1,000 crore In Gujarat for expanding its capacity for producing an additional 20 tonnes per hour of French fries and 4 tonnes per hour for Hash Browns.

Currently, Hyfun Foods has a potato processing capacity of 26 tonnes per hour in Gujarat, of which 17 tonnes are for French Fries, 2.7 tonnes for Hash Browns and 3.6 tonnes for potato flakes and 2.7 tonnes for non-potato products.

7,500 potato farmers

Currently, the company is engaged in contract farming with 7,500 potato farmers in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh who grow the crop in over 30,000 acres. Santana, Frysona and FryoM are the major varieties of potatoes that the company cultivates with the help of farmers in India. The company currently has a sales of ₹1,400 crore of which ₹1,000 crore is from exports for frozen potato products. “Once the expansion is completed, we expect to touch revenues of ₹4,000 crore by 2027 and by 2028, we expect our sales to grow to ₹5,000 crore,” Karamchandani added. French fries, potato wedges, Hash Browns, Burger Patties are among the frozen potato products exported from India.