Inside Marico’s Deal Trail: From Beardo to Cosmix

Marico has stopped waiting for the future to arrive. It is buying into it. 

Over the past decade, the FMCG major has steadily picked up digital-first brands that connect with younger consumers and online discovery. From men’s grooming to health foods to functional nutrition, its deal history shows a company adjusting its portfolio alongside changing consumption habits. 

The latest move — acquiring a 60% stake in plant-based nutrition brand Cosmix Wellness, valuing the company at about ₹375 crore — extends that pattern. Cosmix takes Marico further into plant-based proteins and functional foods, areas where established FMCG brands often find it harder to build credibility from scratch. 

Taken together, Marico’s acquisitions follow a clear progression. It began in 2017 with Beardo, marking its entry into digitally native lifestyle brands. True Elements followed in health foods, then Just Herbs in beauty, a controlling stake in Plix through Satiya Nutraceuticals, premium snacking brand 4700BC, and now Cosmix. Over time, three segments — lifestyle and personal care, health foods, and functional nutrition — have taken shape through these additions rather than through a single push. 

Brand consultant Harish Bijoor sees the rationale in how consumer engagement itself has split. “There are essentially two moments in our marketing lives — the physical and the digital,” he says. Marico’s D2C acquisitions, he argues, help it stay present in both. Physical retail will continue to matter, but consumer attention is moving online. “If you can’t beat them, join them; and if you can’t build it yourself, buy it.” 

Filings show the company managing these brands at different stages of maturity. Beardo and Plix are profitable at the EBITDA level and moving toward ₹1,000 crore in combined annual run-rate revenue. Just Herbs and True Elements remain in expansion mode, working toward breakeven through operational synergies. 

Cosmix enters the portfolio from a position of stability. The bootstrapped brand sells plant-based protein powders, superfood blends and functional foods, and has remained profitable since inception. It scaled to about ₹100 crore in annual recurring revenue over the last six months, with EBITDA margins in the high-teen range. 

For Shubhranshu Singh, brand strategist and board member at the Effie Lions Foundation, the strategy reflects positioning rather than diversification. “Be where the gunfire is,” he says. Founder-led brands such as Beardo and Cosmix, he notes, bring community voice and digital instinct that larger organisations take time to develop. “It’s not diversification so much as future-proofing from the inside.” 

Looking across the sector, Singh sees different philosophies at play. ITC has focused on incubation, building brands internally and scaling them through distribution strength. Unilever tends to fold acquisitions into its global operating structure. Godrej has emphasised value-driven buys, integrating backend capabilities while allowing founders operational independence on the consumer side. Marico, he argues, enters earlier and keeps integration lighter, using acquisitions to understand emerging growth areas. Domestic companies, he adds, may be better placed to execute such strategies than multinational incumbents working within legacy structures. 

Marico describes its own approach as disciplined. Filings highlight profitable growth, shared infrastructure and first-party data as central to its digital portfolio. CEO Saugata Gupta says the Cosmix investment strengthens the company’s presence in wellness and plant-based nutrition — categories where consumer interest continues to expand. 

Seen together, Marico’s acquisition trail reflects how consumption patterns are shifting and how the company is choosing to respond — not by waiting for categories to mature, but by entering them early through investment.