India’s snack market is a massive 44,000 crore, so it is not surprising to see a lot many snack brands pitching in Shark Tank India Season 2. 

Makino too is one such brand that wants a share of the pie from this humongous market size. Let us check out their products and pitch from the lens of the sharks.

Makino nachos

Makino aims to give India a new snacking option through their range of Nachos, Corn Chips, Corn Twists, and Peanuts.

The name Makino means made in the original style.

With more and more consumers consciously choosing healthier snacks, Makino too can be termed as somewhat healthy. Makino has 40% less oil as compared to potato chips, zero Cholesterol, and zero Trans Fat. They do not use any kind of artificial ingredient to enhance the taste (i.e. Monosodium Glutamate). 

Their manufacturing process includes:

1) They source Non-GMO corn from North India 

2) Convert corn into flour 

3) Sheeting 

4) Baking 

5) Frying in corn oil 

6) Seasoning with different flavors

 7) Packaging

They are available across 17,000+ retail stores, E-commerce platforms, marketplaces, and 15+ countries. 

The Nachos market in India is ₹500 crores. Their main competitors in an organized sector are

• Dorritos- a US company, a 60-years-old company with ₹100 crores in annual sales 
• Cornitos- an Indian company that is 12 years old with ₹65 crores in sales

Their price is the same as Doritos and when Aman asked what is it that differentiates them from their competitors, this is what the founders had to say

1. Doritos have only 2 flavors and they have 8 flavors.
2. They have also launched a series called Super Nachos in which they have introduced 2 varieties:

• High protein– in which they are combining Soya flour and Flex seeds along with corn flour. 60 gms of this gives 16 gms of proteins
• Veggie Nachos– corn is mixed with fenugreek, which is a very unique fusion.

3. They also have jain Nachos

Currently, they are exporting to GCC (The Gulf Cooperation Council countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) and African countries because they are geographically nearby and the transportation costs are less.

Makino Founders

Ronik Patel, Keval Patel, Ankit Patel, and Priyank Patel are the founders of Makino. They are from Gujarat and since childhood, they have only seen two things. Love for food and love for business. They combined both and started this brand.

Roles of each Founder

• Ronik Patel- E-Commerce and Branding
• Keval Patel- Modern trade and HoReCa
• Ankit Patel- Procurement, production, and logistics
• Priyank Patel- CEO and general trade, exports, and overall management

Makino Shark Tank India

They had asked for ₹2 crores for 2% equity at ₹100 crores valuation. 

Sales

• 2021-2022 sales- ₹18.84 crores
• April to August 2022- ₹12 crores
• August 2022- ₹2.65 crores

10 % of their total sales come from export.

Net Sales split:

• 60% COGS
• 13% sales team cost
• 2% traveling expense
• 13% transportation costs
• 10-12% marketing 

At this point, they were breaking even. Aman asked them why are they not making a profit and the reply was that they have major expenses in setting distribution and sales team. 

Makino needed sharks’ help to set up a distribution network and for branding. 

Anupam Mittal loved them and had faith that they will do something big, but he does not invest in companies that make claims about health and could be addictive for kids, so he was out.

Namita Tahpar had already invested in another snacks brand so she pulled out.

Aman Gupta suggested they should cover India properly before focusing on exports and he also had problems with valuation.

Vineeta Singh and Peyush Bansal had an offer but at ₹36 crores valuation, to which the founders replied that they have already invested ₹42 crores in total from loans and their pocket. This Vineeta saw as a red flag and both Peyush and Vineeta lost interest in giving an offer.

Where Can You Find Them

Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

Concluding Remarks

I would Like to conclude this blog with some of the strategies that Makino has deployed to build their business, you too can use them for growing your business. 

1. Competitive moat

The machines used to make Nachos need a lot of capital investment which acts as an entry barrier for potential competitors.

2. Product Differentiation

In order to differentiate itself from its competitors, they have launched more flavors and varieties in Nachos.

3. Unique product

They also sell corn twists which is a new and unique product. 

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