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“We will focus on value addition to suit Indian tastes”
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Monday, 09 May, 2016, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijay
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 Reitzel Specialty Foods was incepted in the year 2013. The Swiss company’s Indian avatar is present in two segments in India: Retail and Food Service. In Retail, a large range of quality pickles of gherkins, jalapenos, baby-corn, onions and bell peppers apart from Swiss-made mustards are displayed across outlet shelves. In Food Service, it is recognised for its quality products and packaging of gherkins, jalapenos, bell-peppers in cans, jars and pouches. Olivier Camille, CEO, Reitzel International, in an email interaction with Nandita Vijay delves deeper into the composition of the Indian market and how his company has plans to exploit the growth potential in the premium segment. Excerpts:
How would you describe the scene for quality pickles in India and global markets?
Indian consumers are travelling. They are exposed to a variety of new cuisines and are willing to experiment with their palate. With their connection to international food they are willing to bring the same back to their kitchen and try and adopt new and healthier ways of cooking. This category of customers are adaptable to the nuances of global cuisine. They are willing to adopt the international flavour of cooking and increase their consumption. Everything now is about being healthy and tasty. India is a market that is willing and open to change. Hence we see a huge growth potential in this high quality segment because many consumers are already aware and are going for our products.
What are the visible trends that you see in this segment?
Reitzel India has a qualified, competent and experienced workforce, who understand client expectations and guarantee high-quality products. The consumer these days are looking for traceability. They want to know where the products that they are consuming have been produced. It is a part of Reitzel’s daily engagement that helps us narrow this gap with the consumer by offering products created in a unit, where from seeds to the finished product, it works in accordance with best practices, first across 4.5 hectare of land, and then in a 10,000 sq m factory equipped with semi-automatic production lines. This equipment can process up to 80,000 metric tonne of fresh gherkins per day and has a production capacity of 15 million metric tonne per year.
How has the company fared in this space?
We are amongst the top three brands. As part of the Swiss values, we prefer to say that our efforts express our high quality standards. We are one of the largest gherkin producers in India. Our brand’s strategy revolves around a strong experimental approach and the development of lasting partnerships with local farmers. We are constantly experimenting with new seeds, testing new plant protection products and improving yield to meet client’s demand while showing our concern to the environment and biodiversity. The company also ensures traceability from the seeds distributed to farmers to final delivery to its clients in Europe, Russia and the US.
Give us a peek into the competition in the country and globally.
In India, there is no brand operating at the product standards of ours and no one is offering natural vinegar as a media to preserve vegetables. So there is no direct competition. But we do face indirect competition as there are many local brands operating in the category. However, we will surely overcome this competition by educating consumers about our product standard, authentic recipe and quality ingredients.
What are the key strengths of your company that gives it an edge in the market?
As a century-old company, Reitzel has always preserved ‘Taste for Balance.’ We have ability to provide our customers innovative and good quality products as well as tailored packaging to their needs. We are now working to strive ahead of competition. In fact, Reitzel has been a key player in the segment of pickled products, focussing on gherkins and pickled cucumbers globally. Today, private labels account for 60% of our revenues. We are and will remain producers for international private labels.
Which is the revenue generator for the company: Retail or Food Service? What is the response from the market?
Revenue generator is currently from the retail sector and the food service segment is also moving fast to register double digit growth. We are happy to qualify the international standard quality audits with quality and environment certifications: BRC and IFS. The company also bagged the best district export excellence award in 2012. We are also on board with few major Indian food service accounts besides being a preferred source of supply for global quick service restaurants (QSRs) chains.
Provide us three key advantages of the Food Safety & Standards Act and the challenges for companies in adherence.
We adhere to food safety norms of the most stringent retail and food service organisations from USA and Europe. We have been putting in place the highest standards in manufacture and marketing of our products for the last 10 years. Therefore at no cost do we compromise on the quality of our products.
What is the kind of investment that has gone into this and going forward what is your action plan to widen market reach?
In India, at Kunigal, we have a production facility and a gherkin farm. We have already invested over Rs 100 crore in last 10 years and would slate another Rs 30 crore to augment the current production capacity. For Reitzel, innovation is a major growth strategy. The company’s product and packaging innovations are a result of close collaboration between its marketing, development, sourcing and production teams. In fact, this factors in our current and future market trends. At Reitzel, we transform our clients' private labels and for our own brands.
Indicate the future developments for Reitzel.
Our objective is to become the most renowned brand for chefs and end-users to be a part of every meal consumed when it comes to pickles and vegetables preserved in natural vinegar. Since we are investing in production expansion and R&D, there could be several developments in the coming years. We will focus on a lot of new and value-added products that suit Indian tastes and for global cuisine.
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