Reportlinker Adds Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Foods Market in India: An Analysis

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Apr 26, 2010, 11:15 ET

NEW YORK, April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Foods Market in India: An Analysis

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0189792/Ready-to-Eat-RTE-Foods-Market-in-India-An-Analysis.html

Executive Summary

The Indian ready-to-eat (RTE) and ready-to-cook (RTC) food segment has emerged from its early days of being a fringe alternative to home-cooked meal or to eating out. A fast-paced urban lifestyle, increasing prevalence of nuclear family structure, rising disposable income, increasingly larger number of globe-trotting Indians with an experimentative palate are all favorable demographic factors spurring the adoption of RTE and RTC foods in India.

Further, the growth of modern retail has provided unprecedented brand and category visibility to convenience foods. Also, technological advancements in packaging and flavor science have brought RTE and RTC foods centre-stage among urban Indians.

In the RTE and RTC segments, and specifically in pasta, vermicelli and instant mix categories, the competitive landscape is largely dominated by 4-5 players, including MTR, Gits, ITC, Bambino, and Kohinoor Foods. Apart from focusing on the domestic market, these companies have also expanded their reach internationally in geographies with a sizeable Indian Diaspora.

On the domestic front, there is an interesting competitive dynamics emerging. With the introduction of private labels, e.g. Tasty Treat by Big Bazaar and in-store, freshly-made snack mixes, e.g. idli and dosas, modern retail presents a credible threat for branded RTE and RTC players, who have traditionally relied upon this channel for increasing their visibility and reach.

The urban consumers are not complaining though, as they have wider options in product range and prices, easier availability, and increased convenience. A larger proportion of urban consumers are experimenting with RTE/RTC foods on a more frequent basis with the top two value propositions being "saves time" and "tastes good". Among the three categories mentioned earlier, pasta and instant mixes lead in terms of frequency of consumption, with vermicelli taking a relatively lesser share of wallet. These findings have emerged from a dipstick consumer research study the analyst team at Religare Information services conducted across the metros and Tier I cities in putting together this report.

Table of Contents

1. How the ready-to-eat foods segment has evolved in India 4

1.1 With changing culinary habits, the Indian market is warming up to 'instant' foods 4

1.2 Emerging Scenario 5

2. Competitive Landscape 6

2.1 A rapidly growing market; but few players with national presence 6

2.2 More volumes than margins-driven business, except for the premium range 6

2.3 Modern retail format providing stimulus, but also emerging as competition 7

3. Category Analysis: Instant mixes, Vermicelli, and Pasta 8

3.1 Noodles and Vermicelli are the fastest growing segments 8

3.2 The consumption of pasta is on a sharp uptrend 8

3.3 How the players stack up on breadth of presence and penetration 9