Snapshots of Food Industry News
ITC Foods enters coffee beverage segment
With the launch of Sunbean Gourmet Coffee, ITC Foods has announced its entry into this beverage segment. The coffee consists of a blend of two flavors one Indian and the other Latin American. The Nicamalai flavor is a blend of beans from Nicaragua and the Anamalai hills in Tamil Nadu and so the name is also a combination of the two regions. The Panagari flavor is composed of beans from Panama and the Arabica beans from Chikkamagaluru’s Baba Badungiri hills (Karnataka). The former coffee blend has a sweet fruity flavor and the latter is fragrant and has a strong aroma.
Baba Budangiri is where the legendary saint, Baba Budan planted the first coffee seeds in India which he had brought from Yemen. The hills are also named after the Baba. ITC has created these coffee beverages as part of their premium gourmet coffee experience. These special beverages will be available in luxury ITC hotels. Consumers can also buy the roasted coffee beans from the company’s food and beverage outlets in their hotels at Rs.800 for 200-gram packs.
Tata Global Beverages looking to move into the dairy sector
Tata Global Beverages is studying the dairy sector so that it can tap into it and expand into a new business segment. Just like it is considering other natural beverages it is looking into dairy too. The company feels that there is a lot of opportunity in the dairy business in India and dairy is part of their future plans and for the time being, they have no immediate plans to launch any products in dairy. Britannia Industries Ltd, as well as ITC Ltd, are two other companies that have made their intention clear and have already forayed into dairy sector.
Tata Global beverages also wish to make some aggressive moves into this sector but will do so only when they feel the time is right. Tata’s say that while they are aware of consumers’ needs and growing trends in the market they wish to ensure long-term sustainable growth as well.
Nestle launches protein-enriched milk in India
Nestle has recently made additions to its portfolio of nutritional products in India by launching Nestle A+ Pro-Grow. This product contains 20 percent higher milk protein than Nestlé already existing A+ line products. Nestle A+ Pro-Grow is targeted at growing children that have specific protein needs and at mothers who wish their growing children to get the best nutrition. Nestle has introduced the nutritious milk for the benefit of this new target segment. The product is presently available in two flavors vanilla and chocolate.
The company provides one-liter packs for home use. The 180ml pack cost Rs.99 and they even have smaller trial packs that cost only Rs.30. Nestle said that they are making the packs available in key cities in the first phase of the launch. Nestlé’s other A range products are Nestle A+ Nourish meant for the entire family, Nestle A+ Slim for fitness focussed adults as this milk has 15 times lower fat than regular milk.
Health Food market crosses revenue of Rs.10, 000 crore
The health food market is growing at a faster rate than expected as most Indian’s have become health conscious. They are now more open to health products and do not shy away from spending on products like cereals, oats, milk foods, fortified foods enriched with nutrients. According to a Nielsen report the wellness and health products market has therefore crossed Rs.10,000 crores in sales and that too when this segment is just 10 percent of the overall food market. With consumers looking for labels like ‘all natural’ ‘high in fiber,’ the food companies are taking advantage of this trend by charging premiums anywhere between 22 to 82 percent.
The packaged food market in India is relatively new as compared to the global scenario. It is the young Indians that are particularly health conscious about their diet that are driving sales. Also with globalization, Indian’s have become more conscious of their body image and wish to compare well with global body images. Among the biggest grossers are milk food products, healthy oils, and multigrain atta. More than north India the report says it is south India that is leading the trend and eastern India is second to follow. Also, Indian male consumers show a leaning towards fortified and nutritious foods. Female consumers prefer organic or natural products and don’t mind sacrificing taste for health benefits.
Food Processing Minister to meet heads of retail and food companies in the UK
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Food Processing Minister, in a bid to boost FDI will be meeting heads of retail and food processing companies like Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Harrods, Sainsbury ’s and Cobra Beer in the UK. The Ministry will also organize road shows to showcase India’s food retail sector. This move is intended to attract international companies which have shown no interest in India despite the announcement of the 100 percent FDI by the government.
The Indian High Commission along with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has organized Badal’s one-on-one meetings with the heads of the global companies. The corporate heads will also be shown a presentation about the advantages of investing in India. Food Processing Minister will also meet her counterpart in the UK. The global companies are of the view that India should not have dropped general merchandise from FDI like soaps and shampoo etc. as these make the investment in food worthwhile since most investors do not wish to invest in food alone.
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