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The rising demand for ready-to-cook meals during the pandemic
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Monday, 04 July, 2022, 13 : 00 PM [IST]
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Sanjana Desai
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More than a decade back, masalas used for making meals were typically made at home. Now ready-to-cook masalas have become an integral part of Indian households.
The ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat segments have surely reduced cooking preparation time and made it easy to cook Indian delicacies at home. Ready to cook (RTC), and Ready to eat (RTE), food segment has witnessed a surge in demand in the last couple of years and takes care of customers that have a lack of time to spend in the kitchen or just simply a lack of skill to cook cumbersome curries regularly.
The preference for these meals by the working population and millennials has grown because of changes in lifestyle. Working parents prefer the easy cooking method. Working mothers seek healthy and tasty options for their children. Disposable incomes have led to the demand for RTC products.
Increasing urbanisation has increased the awareness of RTC segment. The consumer can add fresh proteins or vegetables and also add their own flavour and touch to the meal prepared at home for the family.
Consumers today have a hectic schedule; they look forward to options that are quick and easy to make and at the same time healthier than ordering food from outside. Restaurant food is always oilier and less dependable in terms of quality of ingredients than food made at home. Tapping this need in the market many manufacturers are trying to cater and meet this potential in the food industry.
Here are some of the reasons why consumers now want a quick solution:
Demand for healthy instant food:
The pandemic and the consecutive lockdowns have made people reevaluate what they eat, they have become conscious about healthy food and healthy eating options. The fast-paced lifestyle changes have led to a realisation that focusing on health and wellness is necessary. The evolving needs of the consumer have pushed the demand for clean label and plant-based food segments, across the world. There are many options available, from plant-based beverages to ready-to-cook food items.
Urbanisation:
Growing urbanisation has been a huge driving force in India, especially over the last five years in terms of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook food and conversion of unbranded to branded food. Since there is a wide range of consumers, manufacturers are gradually focusing on a variety of prepared foods across regions. There is a variety of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods for everyone, from office-going parents to children. To cater to all these sections of Indian society, companies have adopted different a portfolio to include nutrition-based categories to meet the growing demand.
Specialty Regional cuisine:
The ready-to-eat food that was first introduced in India in the space of instant noodles, soup, frozen vegetables, or snacks has come a long way from its existence. The industry has kept up with the shift in demand and the wide consumer base that it caters to. There is now a whole range of RTC meals customised for the Indian diaspora, from Panner Tikka Masala, Shahi Paneer mix, Vegetable Biryani, and Chicken Biryani, Chicken Chettinand mix, Goan fish curry. Regional cuisines are taking a preference.
There is no doubt that not only RTE and RTC food is going to stay in India but also going to continue to grow with more women joining the workforce, the increasing consumer demands, and the market trends. This will eventually turn into a breakthrough in India’s food manufacturing industry and has the potential of being in every Indian household.
(The author is executive director at Mother’s Recipe)
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