McDonald’s supplier HyFun plans ₹2,000 crore India IPO by 2028

HyFun Foods, a major supplier to McDonald’s and KFC, is planning to raise up to ₹2,000 crore through an initial public offering by late 2028 as demand for frozen foods accelerates across India. Chief Executive Officer Haresh Karamchandani said the company expects to begin preparations for the IPO around mid-2027, with most of the issue expected to comprise fresh shares.

The Gujarat-based frozen-food manufacturer plans to use the IPO proceeds primarily to expand production capacity and strengthen its domestic business. HyFun expects revenue to more than double to nearly ₹3,500 crore by FY28, as it adds manufacturing capacity and expands sales to regional restaurant chains, hotels, retailers and quick-commerce platforms.

Key takeaways

• HyFun Foods plans to raise up to ₹2,000 crore through an IPO by late 2028.
• IPO preparations are expected to begin around mid-2027.
• The issue is expected to consist largely of fresh shares, meaning capital would flow into the company for expansion.
• HyFun expects FY28 revenue to reach nearly ₹3,500 crore, more than double its FY26 revenue of about ₹1,450 crore.
• Exports currently contribute about three-fourths of revenue, but the company expects that proportion to fall to roughly half within five years as Indian demand grows.
• The company supplies major QSR customers including McDonald’s and KFC, while also serving customers such as Blue Tokai, PVR Cinemas and Wow Chicken.
• HyFun is investing heavily in new production capacity in Gujarat and plans a further facility in Madhya Pradesh.
• The company sees convenience, restaurant expansion and quick commerce as major drivers of India’s frozen-food market.

Why HyFun is targeting the IPO now

HyFun’s IPO plan comes as the company prepares for a significant change in its growth strategy.

Historically, exports have been a major part of its business. According to CEO Haresh Karamchandani, exports to more than 40 countries currently account for about three-fourths of HyFun’s revenue.

The company now expects that share to fall to roughly half within five years.

That does not necessarily mean exports will decline. Instead, HyFun expects its domestic business to grow much faster.

The shift reflects a broader change in Indian food consumption, particularly in urban areas where restaurants, organised retail, food delivery and quick-commerce platforms are expanding.

HyFun believes frozen food is moving from being a specialised restaurant product toward becoming a more mainstream category.

Karamchandani described the industry as being at the “cusp of a shift from fresh to frozen.”

From French fries to a broader frozen-food business

HyFun is best known for frozen potato products, particularly French fries.

But the company has been expanding beyond fries into products including hash browns, burger patties, potato wedges, nuggets and other ready-to-cook snacks. Its food-service portfolio also includes products such as aloo tikki and other Indian-style frozen snacks.

HyFun’s own business information shows that its operations cover the chain from potato sourcing and farming to cold storage, processing and distribution. The company says it works with more than 7,500 farmers and operates an in-house cold-storage system capable of holding up to 1.5 lakh tonnes of potatoes.

This integrated supply chain is important for frozen-food manufacturers because product consistency depends heavily on potato varieties, crop quality, storage conditions and processing technology.

The company uses individual quick freezing, or IQF, technology to preserve products after processing.

McDonald’s and KFC are important — but HyFun wants diversification

The McDonald’s and KFC connection gives HyFun a strong position in India’s organised food-service ecosystem.

However, the company’s latest strategy suggests that it does not want future growth to depend disproportionately on global restaurant chains.

Global restaurant chains currently contribute around 40% of HyFun’s domestic revenue. The company expects that share to fall to around 30% over the next two years as it expands sales to regional restaurant chains and other customers.

HyFun also counts Indian brands including Blue Tokai, PVR Cinemas and Wow Chicken among its customers.

This diversification matters because the Indian food-service market is much broader than multinational QSR chains.

Regional restaurant brands, cafés, hotels, cloud kitchens, caterers and organised retailers can all create demand for products that offer consistent quality while reducing preparation time.

The quick-commerce effect

Quick commerce is becoming an increasingly important distribution channel for frozen food.

The basic consumer proposition is simple: frozen products can be stored at home and prepared relatively quickly, while quick-commerce networks make them available without a conventional supermarket visit.

This combination is particularly relevant to products such as frozen French fries, pizzas, momos, snacks and ready-to-cook foods.

HyFun is therefore expanding beyond its traditional business-to-business customer base.

Its website says the company has entered retail markets and is expanding its presence on business-to-consumer platforms.

The potential opportunity is significant because frozen food can occupy multiple parts of the consumption chain: restaurants can buy it in bulk, retailers can sell packaged products, and consumers can order frozen products through digital channels.

HyFun expects revenue to reach ₹3,500 crore

HyFun’s latest target is to more than double revenue to nearly ₹3,500 crore by FY28.

That target compares with revenue of around ₹1,450 crore reported for FY26.

This means HyFun is targeting revenue growth of roughly 2.4 times over two financial years.

Metric	Earlier/latest figure	FY28 target
Revenue	~₹1,450 crore in FY26	~₹3,500 crore
IPO	Planned	Up to ₹2,000 crore
IPO preparation	—	Mid-2027
Target IPO timing	—	Late 2028
Export share	~75% of revenue	~50% in five years
Global restaurant chains	~40% of domestic revenue	~30% over next two years

The revenue target is management guidance rather than a guaranteed outcome. Its achievement will depend on new plant commissioning, utilisation rates, domestic demand, export performance and the company’s ability to expand its customer base.

₹1,500 crore capacity expansion is already underway

The IPO plan follows substantial capital expenditure already planned by HyFun.

In July 2026, Karamchandani said the company was investing around ₹1,500 crore in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

A new greenfield manufacturing facility near Mehsana in Gujarat was expected to become operational around January 2027, with investment of roughly ₹1,000 crore. A further Madhya Pradesh facility was planned with an initial investment of around ₹500 crore.

After the expansion, HyFun expects its French fries production capacity to reach about 2,45,000 tonnes annually, while potato-specialty capacity is expected to rise to 40,000 tonnes.

The company said the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh expansion would initially be funded through bank debt and internal accruals.

That makes the proposed IPO a later-stage financing event rather than the immediate source of funding for all of the current expansion.

A ₹1,500 crore private financing round came before the IPO plan

HyFun has also recently accessed private capital.

Moneycontrol reported in June 2026 that the company raised ₹1,500 crore from global investment firm Davidson Kempner through a structured credit transaction. The facility reportedly has a four-year tenure, with EY acting as exclusive adviser.

The financing was intended to support expansion and strengthen the company’s balance sheet.

The sequence is therefore becoming clearer:

Private financing → capacity expansion → higher domestic sales → IPO preparation → potential public listing.

This is a relatively conventional path for a growing manufacturing company seeking to scale before entering the public markets.

India has already become a major French-fries exporter

HyFun’s growth story is also linked to a larger transformation in India’s potato-processing industry.

India historically imported significant quantities of frozen French fries because domestic production of suitable processing potatoes was limited.

That has changed substantially.

An Indian Express analysis reported that India exported about 135,877 tonnes of frozen French fries worth ₹1,478.73 crore during 2023-24. During April-October 2024, exports had already reached 106,506 tonnes worth ₹1,056.92 crore.

HyFun has been one of the major participants in that transformation.

The company’s development therefore reflects two trends at once: India is becoming a competitive production base for frozen potato products, while its own domestic market is beginning to consume more of those products.

Why domestic demand could become the bigger opportunity

Exports helped HyFun scale its manufacturing operations, but domestic demand could provide a different type of growth.

India has a rapidly expanding organised restaurant sector. QSR chains need standardised products that can be stored, transported and prepared consistently across locations.

Frozen products solve part of that problem.

A restaurant can maintain predictable portion sizes and preparation times without depending entirely on daily fresh preparation.

The same characteristics are increasingly attractive to hotels, cafés, caterers and smaller restaurant chains.

This explains why HyFun is targeting regional restaurant chains and hotels alongside retail consumers.

India’s food-services market is expanding

Reuters, citing Redseer Strategy Consultants, reported that India’s food-services industry is expected to grow to around $150 billion by the end of the decade from approximately $90 billion.

That creates a larger addressable market for suppliers of processed and frozen ingredients.

The opportunity is not limited to French fries.

As food-service businesses expand, demand can increase for burger patties, potato specialties, snacks, frozen vegetables, pizzas and other ready-to-cook products.

HyFun is already attempting to broaden its portfolio accordingly.

The company has an integrated potato supply chain

One of HyFun’s competitive advantages is its control over several stages of the potato-processing chain.

The company says its model includes seed sourcing, contract farming, potato procurement, storage, processing and distribution.

It says it has contract farming relationships with more than 7,500 farmers and sources potatoes from regions including North Gujarat, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

That matters because French fries require potato varieties with specific characteristics.

Not every potato is suitable for industrial French-fries production. The raw material has to meet requirements related to size, solids content, sugar levels and processing performance.

Building a reliable agricultural supply chain therefore becomes a key part of the manufacturing business.

IPO proceeds are mainly intended for expansion

The proposed ₹2,000 crore IPO is expected to consist largely of fresh shares.

That is significant because fresh shares raise new capital for the company rather than primarily providing an exit for existing shareholders.

According to the CEO’s comments reported by Reuters, the money would be used to expand capacity and strengthen HyFun’s focus on India’s domestic market.

The eventual IPO structure, valuation, shareholding and exact use-of-proceeds allocation will only become clear when HyFun begins the formal public-market process.

The company is currently targeting late 2028, so those details could change.

What could make the IPO story attractive

HyFun’s proposed listing comes with several structural themes that investors may find interesting.

First is the growth of India’s organised food-services industry.

Second is the increasing availability of frozen-food products through modern retail and quick commerce.

Third is India’s emergence as an export base for processed potato products.

Fourth is HyFun’s integrated supply chain, which can potentially provide greater control over raw-material quality.

Finally, the company is moving toward a more diversified customer base instead of relying primarily on exports or multinational restaurant chains.

However, those positives will have to be balanced against the risks associated with food manufacturing, agricultural supply, commodity prices, energy costs, foreign-exchange movements and customer concentration.

The risks behind the growth story

A frozen-food business remains exposed to agricultural cycles.

Potato availability and quality can fluctuate because of weather, disease and changes in farm economics.

Processing is also energy-intensive. Cold storage, freezing and refrigerated transportation add costs that conventional ambient-food businesses may not face to the same extent.

Another challenge is domestic consumer adoption.

Although frozen food is growing, Indian households have traditionally had a strong preference for fresh food. The shift toward frozen products therefore depends on convenience becoming sufficiently valuable to change established consumption habits.

HyFun is betting that urbanisation, time constraints, restaurant growth and digital commerce will accelerate that transition.

HyFun’s IPO timeline

The company’s current roadmap can be summarised as follows:

2026: Capacity expansion and private financing continue.

Early 2027: New Gujarat manufacturing capacity expected to begin operations.

Mid-2027: HyFun expects to begin preparations for the IPO.

FY28: Management targets revenue of nearly ₹3,500 crore.

Late 2028: Target window for a potential IPO of up to ₹2,000 crore.

These are management targets, not fixed regulatory milestones.

An IPO will ultimately depend on market conditions, financial performance, regulatory approvals and the company’s decision to formally proceed.

The Bigger Picture

HyFun’s planned IPO reflects a larger evolution in India’s food-processing industry. A business that initially benefited from global QSR demand is now positioning itself for a broader opportunity spanning restaurants, hotels, retail, quick commerce and exports. The potential shift from roughly three-fourths export revenue toward a more balanced domestic-export mix shows how management sees India’s consumption market becoming increasingly important.

The more significant story may therefore be India’s transition from a market that largely imported frozen Western-style food products to one capable of producing and exporting them at scale. HyFun’s expansion, along with the growth of India’s restaurant ecosystem and quick-commerce infrastructure, could help push frozen food from a niche category toward a more mainstream part of the country’s food supply chain.

Looking Ahead

The next major milestone for HyFun will be the commissioning and ramp-up of its new manufacturing capacity. If the Gujarat and planned Madhya Pradesh facilities achieve their targeted output, the company will have a larger production base from which to pursue its ₹3,500 crore FY28 revenue target and increase domestic sales.

The IPO itself remains a 2028 target rather than a committed listing date. Investors will eventually need to assess HyFun’s revenue growth, margins, debt, customer concentration, export exposure and capital expenditure before determining whether the public-market valuation justifies the company’s expansion ambitions.