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Rice meals & RTE meals key segments in India’s convenience food sector
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Thursday, 11 December, 2014, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Rashmi Poojara
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fiogf49gjkf0d Convenience food is a concept that has been prevalent in the developed world for a long time, while its inception in the Indian market has been recent. With the changing socio-economic pattern of life and the increasing number of working couples, India is witnessed a diet transformation.
The process of diet transformation in India can be seen as involving in two separate stages -income-imduced diet diversification and diet globalisation.
Income-induced diet diversification: At the start of the process of faster economic growth, diets diversify but maintain predominantly traditional features.
Diet globalisation: As globalisation begins to exert its influence, we see the adoption of markedly different diets that no longer conform to the traditional local habits.
Convenience foods (also called tertiary processed foods) are commercially-prepared food designed for ease of consumption.
They are becoming popular because they save time and labour, have an extended shelf-life and are available off the market shelves.
Convenience foods are basically classified into two categories, namely shelf-stable convenience foods and frozen convenience foods.
Shelf-stable convenience foods are further classified into ready-to-eat (RTE), ready-to-serve (RTS) and ready-to-cook (RTC) foods.
Ready-to-eat (RTE) and ready-to-serve (RTS) foods: An RTE food product may be defined as a food product which can be consumed without further processing on the part of the consumer. It can be served/eaten as soon as the pack is opened. Idlis, dosas, pav bhaji, meats (such as pre-cooked sausages, ham and chicken), curries, chapattis, rice and vegetables (such as aloo chhole, navratan korma and chana masala) are examples of RTE foods.
Ready-to-cook (RTC) foods: These kinds of products require basic cooking before they are consumed. All the required ingredients are packed in the required proportions, so that they can be cooked. Examples are instant mixes for cakes, gulab-jamuns, falooda, ice cream, jelly and pudding; noodles; macaroni and vermicelli.
Frozen convenience foods: These kinds of foods are now gaining a major market share. The current trend in frozen foods is dual ovenability (i.e. products that can be heated in a microwave oven or a conventional oven). Shelf-stable retortable foods are suitable for microwave heating. Examples of frozen foods include frozen parathas, samosas, smileys and fries.
The RTE and RTS categories of convenience foods comprises heat-and-eat foods. As the name suggests, they need to be heated before eating. This segment comprises curries, rice delicacies, light meals and desserts.
The most-widely available convenience foods in India are enumerated below:
Rice meals: Rice meals give the feel of a homely meal even when one is away from home. They fall into the heat-and-eat category (the pouch just has to be dipped in boiling water or heated in a microwave). It is available in such combinations as Bisibele Bhath, Rajma Chawal, Rasam Rice, Sambar Rice, Jeera Rice, Tamarind Rice, Tomato Rice and Lemon Rice.
Soups: Appetisers are increasingly becoming omnipresent in the Indian cuisine. Ready-to-cook soup powders are available in such flavours as baby corn and spring onion, spicy tomato, mixed vegetable, tomato mulligatawny, spinach and carrot and Chinese hot and sour. They contain flavour enhancers.
RTE: Ready-to-eat foods, which are typically of the heat-and-eat variety, offer convenience, taste and variety. The offerings include such south Indian dishes as Avial, Kesari Bhath, Khara Bhath and Pineapple Curry, and north Indian ones, such as Aloo Mutter, Chana Masala, Dal Fry, Dal Makhani, Navratan Kurma, Paneer Butter Masala, Paneer Makhani, Bhindi Masala, Mixed Vegetable Curry, Palak Paneer, Peas and Mushroom, Rajma Masala and Vegetable Pulao.
Frozen foods: An array of frozen foods is finding their place in the Indian market and offering convenience to families that do not have the time or inclination to cook traditional meals. It includes Masala Dosa, Rava Idli, Punjabi Chhole and Paratha, Palak Paneer and Paratha, Aloo Bhaji and Paratha, Samosa, Vada, Rice Idli and various kinds of stuffed parathas and rotis. They are available in most cities.
Instant sweet mixes: Desserts, such as gulab jamun, Badam Feast and vermicelli payasam, have always occupied an important place in Indian cuisine. Sweet mixes offer an opportunity to serve instant desserts. With the increase in the number of Diabetes mellitus cases in India, sugar-free dessert mixes with artificial sweeteners have also become ubiquitous of late.
Instant snack mixes: These offer an opportunity to create instant snacks. This category includes Masala Upma, Muruku, Rava Dosa, Rava Idli, Rice Idli, Rice Dosa, Vada and Poha.
Ice cream mixes and beverages: Aamras, badam milk, cold coffee, chocolate milk, health drinks and herbal beverages are available in ready-to-drink containers. Ice cream mixes are gaining increasing popularity too.
Instant noodles, pasta and vermicelli: The instant noodle category in India was, in a sense, created by Nestlé, with the introduction of Maggi in the mid-1980s. The concept of two-minute noodles, positioned as a quick snack option for children, found acceptance with them and their mothers. Having built and nurtured the category’s evolution, Maggi became a synonym for instant noodles. Now, there are other players, including Top Ramen, Ching’s Secret and Yipee in an array of flavours. Pasta entered the market in different flavours too. Vermicelli, a traditional food, is available in the ready-to-cook form and can be used in a number of preparations.
The processed food market in India is in its nascent stage, but is growing fast. The size of the processed food market is currently estimated to be Rs 1,500 crore, out of which RTC foods account for about Rs 1,275 crore and the RTE segment’s share is Rs 225 crore. This market is expected to have an annual growth of 25-30 per cent over the next five years, with a huge potential for growth owing to a large consumer base. In the ready-to-cook segment, instant noodles (Rs 1,000 crore) is the leader, followed by soups (Rs 200 crore), pasta (Rs 50 crore) and others (Rs 25 crore). According to Tata Strategic Management Group report, the RTE market is expected to grow to Rs 2,900 crore by 2015.
The prices of most brands in this segment range between Rs 25 and Rs 40 for a typical 285g dish. ITC’s Kitchens of India range is available in tins, and priced much higher than the rest (a 450g tin costs between Rs 110 and Rs 150). This brand has also found its way into homes overseas, where it is mainly a gift item. Purchases for overseas travel constitute almost 10 per cent of the sales in this category. MTR foods is the largest player in this emerging market, with a share of about 65 per cent. Satnam Overseas, ITC, Tasty Bites, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), Haldiram’s and other local players constitute the rest.
The reasons for the increase in the consumption of these foods include globalisation of Indian food and its culture; a fast-growing overseas market; the rapid growth of the retail culture in India; the fact that the shelf life of these foods is at least 12-18 months; the steady increase in urbanisation and disposable incomes; an expected increase in the numbers of youth and working women in India, and the widening scope of the Indian retail market. These are expected to drive the industry towards growth.
Awareness is increasing among Indians about long-term health issues associated with an irregular diet and fast food consumption. Ensuring and communicating freshness, and offering more convenient product concepts should be the areas of focus for RTE manufacturers in India. Indians are taking more interest in taking control of their personal health than ever before. There is a renewed interest in reading about health and wellness. Detailed and descriptive nutritional information on product packaging is vital in gaining the consumers’ trust. More than half of Indians across all age groups are highly influenced by ‘better for you’ claims while making food and beverage choices. RTE foods should be reformulated to contain lower percentages of fat and cholesterol. Food and beverages marketed with freshness claims have more influence on consumers, compared to authentic/homemade/original ones or even those with no artificial additives. Traditionally, Indians have long believed in the benefits of consuming freshly-prepared food at home. Removing the scepticism surrounding convenience foods with consumer awareness is crucial. A host of foods catering to the ethnic cuisines of all parts of the country is an emerging concept.
The factors to be considered for the long-term existence of these foods include the introduction of RTE health foods such as salads targeted at the health-conscious; making these foods comparable with homemade foods in terms of the sodium, fat and other additives present; offering complete meal combinations of rice/bread and curries in packaging that allow for direct consumption from the container; introducing a greater variety of canned, chilled, frozen and dried ready meals with utmost levels of food safety so that the consumer is assured about the nutritional composition as well as the safety of these foods, and providing details on the label regarding the types of fat, sugar, sodium content, additives, allergen information, and nutrient composition (which would help the consumer make the right choices of convenience foods).
(The author is assistant professor, Department of Home Science, St Teresa’s College, Ernakulam. She can be contacted at rashmipoojara@rediffmail.com)
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