Back‘Consumers will embrace ready-to-cook, frozen meals’
Large-scale job losses will lead to consumers buying only basic and essential items for the near future
PremiumNEW DELHI : With most people working from homes with limited dine-outs due to fears of viral infection, consumers may buy ready-to-eat and convenience food products, said top officials from fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms at the Mint’s Pivot or Perish FMCG in India: Bridging the Digital Gap campaign on Thursday.
Adani Wilmar Ltd, which sells the Fortune brand of edible oils, said it has received encouraging response to its ready-to-cook (RTC) range of khichdis in three variants. “During the lockdown, people wanted something which is easy to cook since various food items were not easily available. We distributed it faster and the response was good. We are extending this range by planning more products for this portfolio," said Angshu Mallick, deputy CEO, Adani Wilmar.
Noting that food and grocery will continue to do well, Arvind Mediratta, MD and CEO, METRO Cash and Carry India said the future demand of consumers will largely be impacted by products that will bring them convenience.
“Frozen foods category is not being talked about, but will see adoption and growth. With people working from home and unavailability of house helps, people are looking for ready to eat meals and frozen food," he added.
Mediratta also emphasised that due to the pandemic, eating out is not an option, which will further drive people to try and replicate dishes they usually order at restaurants.
“People are also looking for variety with frozen food such as kebabs, french fries and potato wedges being the kind of products that can easily be made. The frozen food category has witnessed 70-80% jump in sales and it is still growing strong," he said. Mediratta said large-scale job losses in urban markets will create strain on household financials, leading consumers to buy only basics and essentials for some more time. Therefore, the demand for discretionary products has slowed down and it will eventually come down as well.
saumya.t@livemint.com
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