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Tata Consumer plans to ramp up distribution for Sampann
- In India, the company’s products reach nearly 200 million households and are distributed to 2.5 million retail outlets. However, this is a fraction of the more than 13 million mom-and-pop stores in India.
Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) that sells packaged water, tea, salt and pulses is set to scale general trade distribution of its Sampann brand of pulses, mixes and spices as it spots an opportunity in expanding the brand beyond top metros and going deeper into the country’s mom and pop stores.
We want Sampann to be the Tata Salt of tomorrow. We are focused very heavily on ensuring that we are able to build good general trade distribution,” Deepika Bhan, president, packaged foods, India, TCPL, said in an interview.
Tata Salt is the largest brand in India’s salt market, with an estimated 35% market share in the packaged salt segment, according to a June note by brokerage ICICI Securities.
In 2019, Tata Global Beverages was renamed Tata Consumer Products, following the merger of the consumer products business of Tata Chemicals with itself. TCPL now sells a wide range of packaged goods under brands like Tetley Tea, Eight O’Clock Coffee, Tata Tea, Tata Salt, and Tata Sampann. Under Tata Sampann it sells packaged pulses, chickpea flour, spices, ready-to-eat dosa and chilla mixes and poha. Tata Sampann was launched in 2015.
More recently, Sampann entered the snacking category with the lunch of dry fruits. Last year, TCPL completed the acquisition of Kottaram Agro Foods, the maker of Soulfull breakfast cereals, further expanding its foods business.
Bhan said Tata Sampann could enter new categories in the future.
"Sampann is our opportunity to ensure that we are able to play in core consumer categories. And that will always be a big driving force. Having said that, playing in more premium categories like dry fruits is also is happening,” she said.
The push to expand Sampann comes as demand for packaged staples continues to rise across the country’s top metros. The Indian staples industry is largely unorganised with the share of branded players at less than 10%. This gives Sampann the opportunity to play in categories that are large and mostly unbranded.
Bhan said the brand is more metro-focused right now as adoption among upmarket urban shoppers is higher. “Our first port of call will be to grow in metros and then go to tier two towns."
In India, the company’s products reach nearly 200 million households and are distributed to 2.5 million retail outlets. However, this is a fraction of the more than 13 million mom-and-pop stores in India.
“Our effort on Sampann is to ensure that while we expand general trade distribution, we are a very strong player on e-commerce as well…If you look at the foods’ portfolio growth, overall—it's actually powered by Sampann from a top line standpoint (beyond the salt business),” she said.
Sampann is a “strong growth” lever for the company as it allows TCPL to extend beyond salt and claim categories which are significantly large—like staples, Bhan said.
In FY20-21, the company’s foods business grew 18% year-on-year to touch ₹ ₹2,442 crore. Growth was led by salt, pulses and spices portfolio and driven by increase in direct distribution, the company said in its annual report for the financial year. In the same year, the company’s consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs11,602 crore.
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First Published:28 Dec 2021, 06:04 PM IST
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