Ready-To-Eat Foods
The Indian food processing industry is seeing a lot of activity in the ready-to-cook, ready-to-eat and snack foods as well as beverages and neutraceutical foods. The biggest changes are in the ready-to-eat segment. The reasons: the changing socio-economic scenario with over 10 million households having an income of over Rs. 100,000, women wanting to spend more time out of the kitchen, more working bachelors staying away from home, the growing population of NRIs, etc. The ready-to-eat segment is a small but growing part of the estimated $20 billion food industry. Some hurdles: the foods need to be stable without a cold chain because the infrastructure is still weak, and the Indian customer is price sensitive. Since the technology and packaging costs are high, companies need to look at greater market penetration, not only in the metros but also in towns with over one million population in order to bring down the prices.