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Growth & Significance of RTE in Indian Market
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Tuesday, 17 September, 2019, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Dr Soumya Rathore
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India has undergone immense change over the last decade with respect to lifestyles and cooking habits. Rapid urbanisation, increase in trend of nuclear family, rise in per capita income, increment in the number of working women are some factors that have brought changes in food habits. In today’s scenario, hectic life and work pressure have influenced the choice of people to easy and short ways of cooking rather than traditional cooking practices.
Due to above reasons, Ready-to-Eat (RTE)/Ready-to-Cook (RTC)/ Ready-to-Serve (RTS)/Convenience foods has gained a strong limelight among the consumers in past few years. Due to rise in literacy levels and improvement in communication technology, consumers are becoming more aware of the foods they consume and they take decision based on the wealth of resources available.
Although the basic concept of all four categories of food is nearly similar, yet there are few differences among them.
Ready-to-Eat Foods: Foods that have been prepared so that they can be directly consumed as it is, without any additional cooking, are ready-to-eat foods. Ready-to-eat foods can be refrigerated, shelf-stable, require minimal heating or are served hot. Ready-to-eat foods have specific guidelines that ensure that there is zero contamination after preparation. The concept of RTE food was introduced in India in 1987 by a Pune-based company named Tasty Bites Eatables. The products launched initially did not get much popularity among the contemporary Indian consumer.
Ready-to-Cook Foods: Ready-to-cook food means that the food ingredients are semi-cooked and need some minimal cooking steps before being served. E.g. instant mixes like cake mixes, gulab-jamun mix, falooda mix, ice cream mix, jelly mix and pudding mix, pasta products like noodles, macaroni and vermicelli.
Ready-to-Serve Foods: Ready-to-Serve foods are defined as prepared foods representing a main dish requiring no further supplementation. E.g., Gravy of vegetables, dishes in restaurants.
Convenience Food: Convenience food is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. It is a concept that is prevalent in the developed world for a long time, but its platform in the Indian market has recently been established. This type of food has extended shelf-life and is available off the shelves in market. The convenience food can be classified into two categories: Shelf-stable convenience food and Frozen convenience food.
Growth of Ready-to-Eat Products in Indian Market
The processed food sector in India is heading towards a ready-to-eat revolution. Grocery stores are unveiling, almost on a monthly basis, new convenience food products, with a startling range of heat-and-eat foodstuffs, sauces, pastes and potions. Currently, the total branded market for RTE foods estimates to Rs 500 m (US$10.8m) and is expected to reach Rs 3.0 bn within a duration of three years. However, the market has recently undergone a transformation after two or three years of slow growth. The increase in demand of RTE foods associates with the growth of supermarkets and other specialised retail chains like Food World and Nilgiris.
According to “India Ready-to-Eat Food Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019,” the Indian RTE food market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 21.99% during 2014-19, in value terms. Increasing workforce, improving consumer lifestyle, and expanding retail formats are the key drivers buoying growth in RTE food products demand in the country. Northern and western region are the key revenue contributors in the RTE food market, with major demand emanating from cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Segment wise, shelf-stable RTE food demand exceeds that of frozen RTE food in the country.
The key growth factors of RTE products in India
The average income level of Indians is increasing in recent years. In addition to it, nowadays, both men and women are employed as a result, the number of people earning in a given family is increasing. This has in turn raised the per capita spending capacity. These factors are increasing the average consumption of RTE products in India.
As per the United Nations (UN) World Urbanization Prospects 2018 report, the rate of urbanisation has increased to a considerable level since the 2009 census. The fast changing urban lifestyle and the new trend of living away from home for studying and employment purposes have eventually resulted in the growing demand of RTE food in India.
Ready-to-Eat food market is the future food shortcut market. In India, people beingworkaholic, they do not have time to cook time taking dishes, so they prefer to either go to restaurants or use ready-to-eat food market products. The industry has not set completely tillyet, but it’s very soon would be. People are aware about the product but due to one or another reason they are hesitant to use them. The reasons are as follows: Ready-to-Eat packets are not readily available; They are not good as freshly cooked food; They might cause serious health issues; They are costly; Smaller packs are not available.
Technological changes, Government policies, Changing pattern of living and tastes and the changes in the lifestyles of people are the main reasons behind the rapid growth of the RTE/RTC/Convenience food industry. There is a greater demand for instant food products and the major reasons for the same are convenient usage, easy availability, less time consumed and better taste. Today due to long working hours, people are ready to use convenience food products.
(The author is assistant professor in food processing department at Harcourt Butler Technical University, Kanpur. She can be contacted at somi_22rathore@rediffmail.com)
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