LT Foods Ltd was incorporated on October 16, 1990 as a private limited company with the name LT Overseas Pvt Ltd. On May 3, 1994, the company was converted into a public limited company and the name was changed to LT Overseas Ltd. In September, 2008, the name of the company was changed from LT Overseas Ltd to LT Foods Ltd.
The company is engaged in the manufacture and sale of rice under the brand DAAWAT. They also manufacture and market parboiled rice. Their product is marketed in more than 50 countries. The company's brand portfolio includes DAAWAT Traditional Basmati Rice, DAAWAT Biryani Basmati Rice, DAAWAT Pulav Basmati Rice, DAAWAT Super Basmati Rice and DAAWAT Rozana. Their product portfolio also includes brown rice, white rice, steamed rice, parboiled rice and organic rice. Their product range includes Select, Gold Basmati Rice, Super, Chef's Secretz, Rozana, Devaaya Basmati Rice, Brown Rice, and Heritage.
In 1993, the company started their operations using certain processing facilities of Lal Chand Tirath Ram Rice Mills (LCTRRM), an associate concern, on lease. In the year 1993, they got their registration as manufacturer exporter from APEDA.
During the year 1994-95, the company filed the draft prospectus with SEBI and Stock Exchanges in Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. The object of the issue was to part finance the expansion programme for setting up a milling plant with a capacity of 2 MTPH. They received the observation letter from SEBI but they did not take the matter forward on account of the then prevailing poor conditions in the capital markets.
In the year 1995, the company set up milling capacity (paddy to rice) of 4 MTPH, at Sonepat. During the year 1995-96, the company registered the brand 'DAAWAT' in United States of America. During the year 1997-98, they received 'APEDA Export award' for outstanding contribution to promotion of agricultural and processed food products during the year 1996-97. In March 26, 1999, they took over the business of Lal Chand Tirath Ram Rice Mills having milling capacity of 6 MTPH, thus increasing the total milling capacity to 10 MTPH.
During the year 1999-2000, the company was recognized as Star Trading House by Government of India. They launched the brand 'DAAWAT' in Mauritius, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand. They started setting up a new manufacturing facility at Bahalgarh, Haryana and in December 2000, they commenced commercial production.
During the next two years, they launched the brand 'DAAWAT' in Australia and Canada. During the year 2002-03, the company increased the capacity in Bahalgarh unit from 4 TPH to 10 TPH, making the total capacity to 16 MTPH. During the year 2003-04, they received Award from APEDA for export promotion and quality development of Basmati Rice.
During the year 2004-05, the company increased the capacity in Bahalgarh unit from 10 TPH to 12 TPH, making the total capacity to 18 MTPH. Also, they received India Star Award from Indian Institute of Packaging during the year. During the year 2006-07, the company increased the total production capacity from 18 MTPH to 27 MTPH. Also, they inaugurated the Silos Complex during the year.
During the year 2007-08, the company set up a state of the art plant at Mandideep, Bhopal (MP). The production capacity of the company's main plant at Bahalgarh was increased from 27 MTPH to 33 MTPH. With this addition, the total capacity increased to 50.50 MTPH. Also, they started Sales Depot operation in Chennai, to provide better services to our esteem customers of Tamil Nadu state.
During the year, the company invested in LT Infotech (P) Ltd which is in to the business of telecommunication and which has entered in to a joint venture with Cordia International. In December 2007, the company's wholly owned subsidiary LTO North America Inc acquired Kusha Inc, a largest distribution company in U.S. with the brand name 'ROYAL'. With this acquisition, the company increased their market share in the US market from 7% to 52%.
During the year 2008-09, the company incorporated LT Agri Services Pvt Ltd as a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Daawat Foods Ltd.
The company was conferred with APEDA Export Award in this year for the performance pertaining to year 2007-08. Also, Daawat Foods Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary company received Export Excellence award for their excellence in operations and export by State of Madhya Pradesh in their first full year of operations.
During the year 2009-10, the company bagged the 'Wheat Silos Project' on Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis for a period of 30 years from Punjab State Grains Procurement Corporation Ltd, Government of Punjab for storage and handling of 50,000 MT of wheat. The company's flagship brand, 'Daawat' increased its presence across the length and breadth of the country.
In 2010-11, the Company ventured into foodgrain storage business and also into biomass based power generation business. It made pioneering entry into foodgrain storage business and developed storage capacity of 50,000 MT of wheat in modern silos at Mulechak near Amritsar. It launched 6 new variants of Basmati special grains rice under Daawat Chef's Secretz' brand in November 2010. It launched four new variants of Daawat Basmati Rice namely Daawat Biryani Basmati Rice, Daawat Traditional Basmati Rice, Daawat Super Basmati Rice and Daawat Pulav Basmati Rice.
In 2012, it launched Daawat in Trinidad & Tobago, introduced the brand in Costco, Australia and launched Daawat Biryani in Singapore & Australia. It also launched fast cooking brown rice and procured bulk sales for the same in Europe and US. It ventured into International Trading business division during FY 12. Another notable launch of FY 13 was Daawat Tibar. Initiation of wheat flour export to USA and Australia was also a key milestone that underlined growth during FY 13. The launch of Atta under the Royal brand in USA and Australia, leveraging the strong dealer network in the two countries, became a significant step towards further diversification. It also introduced 'Organic Quick Cooking Brown Rice' in America.
It introduced Devaaya staples namely Atta (wheat flour), Suji (semolina), Besan (gram flour), Poha (flattened rice), Dalia (bulgur) and Maida (refined flour) in 2014. In 2014-15, the Company developed and delivered two grain silos to Madhya Pradesh Warehousing and Logistics Corporation (one each at Bhopal and Indore). In 2015-16, it acquired two iconic brands - Gold Seal Indus Valley and Rozana to strengthen its foothold in the Middle East region. It incorporated a Company by the name of LT Foods International Limited in United Kingdom. It acquired iconic brand 817 Elephant brand of rice through its UK subsidiary to further strengthen its presence in Canada, US and Dubai.
In 2016-17, it opened a branch and established a plant in Rotterdam to strengthen its presence in Europe. It formed a JV with Japanese Snack Food major Kameda to manufacture and market rice based snacks in India. Further, it entered in a JV with Future Group for sourcing and manufacturing of regional rice. It opened a plant for the same in Tumkur, Karnataka. It expanded geographic reach with addition of 300 new distributor towns and retail outlets in India.
During the year 2017-18, the Company acquired 100% stake of Deva Sing Sham Singh Export Private Limited which became the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. Also, it acquired 92% Stake of M/s Raghunath Agro Industries Private Limited from its another subsidiary namely Daawat Foods Limited.