Inside PVR Inox’s popcorn strategy: Driving F&B spends amid weak box office in FY25

Revenue from the sale of movie tickets stood at Rs 2,942.4 crore in FY25, down from Rs 3,258.2 crore in FY24 whereas revenue from sale of F&B was Rs 1,733.5 crore in the last financial year, down from Rs 1,886.4 crore a year ago.

"We continued to invest in Food & Beverage (F&B) as a core growth vertical," said the company's management in FY25 annual report.

"(PVR Inox) Launched its first owned hot dog brand ‘Dog Father’, piloting scalable F&B brands with potential beyond cinema locations. Completed the roll out of non-vegetarian menus across 116 INOX cinemas. Entered a Joint Venture (JV) with Devyani International to operate mall-based food courts, diversifying our revenue streams into pre-ticketed F&B formats. The JV opened its first food court in Kota, Rajasthan with plans to open another 7-9 food courts in FY26. Expanded home delivery and outdoor catering business. On the back of these initiatives, the company delivered SPH growth despite softer footfalls."

Among metrics including ATP, SPH, admissions and advertising revenue, only SPH saw a growth last financial year.

In FY24, PVR Inox's F&B revenue reported higher growth than the revenue from the sale of movie tickets, signaling to the F&B giant it has become giving many food companies a run for their money. Its F&B revenue grew 21 percent, increasing to Rs 1,958.4 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,618 crore a year ago while movie ticket revenue grew 19 percent to 3,279.9 crore versus Rs 2,751.4 crore in FY23.

Food companies like Westlife Foodworld, the owner-operator of McDonald's restaurants across West and South India, had reported consolidated total income of Rs 2,410.28 crore in FY24. The company's Q1 FY26 revenue stands at Rs 657.7 crore.

PVR Inox reported Rs 491.9 crore revenue from sales of F&B in the first quarter of FY26.

Beyond cinemas

In addition to F&B in cinemas, the company went beyond the four walls of the cinema by entering outdoor catering and corporate events.

Its home delivery of cinema snacks also became a meaningful revenue stream with average aggregator led sales per month increased by 20 percent to Rs 20 mn in FY25.

Zea Maize, which owns the premium popcorn and snacks brand ‘4700 BC’ recorded 35 percent revenue growth, crossing Rs 102 crore in sales in FY25, up from Rs 75.8 crore a year ago.

The brand, which has evolved from gourmet popcorn to over 10 categories, is set to enter its next phase of growth, fueled by wider distribution reach, entry into general trade and modern retail, and expansion into complementary snacking segments.

India’s snacking market, valued at Rs 45,000 crore in FY23, is projected to nearly double to Rs 85,000 crore by FY30, growing at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 9 percent. The premium snacking category is expected to grow at 20 percent CAGR, reaching Rs 24,000 crore by FY30. 4700BC aims to have a significant share in this space while diversifying into more snacking categories.

PVR Inox invested Rs 44.7 crore in Zea Maize in FY25 to increase production capacity for existing products, increase presence across retail outlets, hire senior talent across leadership roles in sales, operations and marketing.