Marico has made another acquisition, snapping up a 60% stake in Indian protein-products business Cosmix Wellness.

The Rs2.25bn ($25m) transaction will expand Marico's “presence in premium food and nutrition categories”, the FMCG group said.

Last month, Marico bought more than 90% of Zea Maize, the Indian company behind the 4700BC snacks brand.

Cosmix Wellness, founded in 2019 by husband-wife duo Vibha Harish and Soorya Jagadish, sells plant-based protein powders, pancake mixes and plant-protein bars under its namesake brand.

Saugata Gupta, Marico’s managing director and chief executive, said the investment “brings another strong and differentiated brand into our digital-first portfolio” and pointed to “immense potential in the wellness and plant-based nutrition space”.

Food is a small part of Marico’s business when measuring annual revenues. In the company’s 2024-25 financial year, it generated revenue from operations of Rs108.31bn, up 12% year-on-year.

However, the group’s food division, which is centred around its Saffola brand, saw its revenue jump 44% to more than Rs9bn and the company is looking to build its presence in the sector.

Marico has an option to buy the remaining stake in Cosmix Wellness after its 2029 financial year.

In its filing, Marico said the company has been "bootstrapped and profitable" since it was formed, scaling to around Rs100bn annual recurring revenue with a “sustainable high teen EBITDA margin profile”.

In a statement, Harish and Jagadish said: “We started Cosmix to champion clean ingredients and honest communication – creating the kind of wellness products we wanted for ourselves and our community. Partnering with Marico is a defining moment for that mission. We see incredible synergies in R&D, manufacturing and more.”

Marico has also been expanding beyond food. The company has entered Vietnam’s direct-to-consumer market via a Rs2.61bn investment in Skinetiq, which owns skincare brand Candid.