Apax Partners to Invest ₹1,300 Cr in iD Fresh Food, Eyeing India’s Booming Ready-to-Cook Market

British private equity firm Apax Partners is set to acquire a quarter stake in Bengaluru-based ready-to-cook brand iD Fresh Food for ₹1,300 crore. This has valued the packaged breakfast staples maker at nearly ₹4,500 crore, The Economic Times reported.

iD Fresh was started in 2005 by PC Musthafa and his cousins. They spotted a simple gap in the market, people wanted fresh, homemade-style food, but without the effort of cooking from scratch.

The company became popular by selling preservative-free idli and dosa batter, made to taste like it’s prepared at home. Unlike older packaged food brands, iD Fresh focused on keeping its products fresh through carefully controlled storage and delivery, rather than adding chemicals.

Today, idli and dosa batter remain its core products, but the company has expanded its range. It now also sells whole-wheat parathas, curd, paneer, instant filter coffee, coffee powder, frozen fruit pulp and chutneys, all aimed at making everyday cooking easier without compromising on freshness.

Apax Partners’ investment comes at a time when ready-to-cook (RTC) food is becoming very popular in India. More people want quick and easy meals because of busy city life, more working couples, and changing lifestyles.

According to an earlier ET report, RTC was the fastest-growing packaged food category in 2024. It was the only segment to double in volume in 2023 and 2024, adding 18 million new households. Sales grew 58% in 2024, while the overall packaged food market grew by just 8%.

Investment bankers say this growth has attracted a lot of investor interest. Equirus Capital reportedly noted that deal activity in this space hit a four-year high in early 2025, with food and beverage companies getting the biggest share of investments.

Today, the market is broadly split into two types of products, "heat-and-eat" foods, such as frozen meals, and "ready-to-cook" items, like batters, pastes, sauces and meal kits.

Big FMCG companies such as MTR, ITC, Godrej, Tata Consumer Products, Haldiram’s and Fortune have launched a wide range of products, from cup noodles and biryani kits to marinated paneer and international sauces.

However, despite growing interest, RTC foods are still used by relatively few people on a regular basis, The Core reported citing a 2025 Redseer survey. The survey found that only 4% of consumers eat RTC food daily, while 8% have it 4-5 times a week. Most people, around 23%, use RTC products just 2-3 times a month, showing there is still huge room for growth.

Apax Partners is no stranger to India. Since 2007, it has invested about $3.6 billion across 13 deals in the country, ET reported.

Its ₹1,300 crore investment gives iD Fresh a strong financial boost to expand further. In FY25, iD Fresh reported ₹681.38 crore in revenue, up 22% from the previous year, highlighting the strong demand for its products.