Starved for time, urban India digs into ready-to-eat breakfast

A change is taking place at thebreakfast table of an average urban Indian household which is nothing short of arevolution. The home-made idli is being replaced by one dished out from apackaged, branded ready-to-cook batter. A bowl of cereal is elbowing out thehot-from-the pan aloo paratha. Even the regular quick-fix kanda-poha is beingshoved aside by a multi-grain bread flaunting health benefits.Thetime-starved working Indian consumer, who is in no mood to spend an hour in thekitchen preparing breakfast, is adopting this new eating habit to suit herlifestyle. She is stocking up on packaged and branded cereals, ready-to-eat/cookproducts that not only serve the purpose of a sumptuous breakfast, but also savetime. Her children are easily adapting to the new morning regime, while herneighbours and friends are keen on converting to a similarlifestyle.So has the Indian consumer—who was first wooed byMichigan-based cereal maker, Kellogg, 16 years ago to convert fromthe traditional form of cooking to the ready-to-eat variety—finally consented? If industry data is anything to go by, the packaged breakfast market has doubled in three years to Rs 400 crore. It is growing at the rate of 30% annually, which has prompted other companies like PepsiCo India, Britannia Industries and Marico to launch their respective brands, ‘Quaker Oats’, ‘Britannia Healthy Start’ and ‘Saffola Oats’."Convenience is a vital factor," says Sangeeta Pendurkar, managing director, Kellogg India, while adding, "with increasing number of working people and rising household incomes, nuclear families and time constraints there has been greater demand for value-added foods.""There is a steady growth in the number ofhouseholds adopting new breakfast categories at around 30% and the penetrationof breakfast cereals has doubled although they are still around 10% of absolutepenetration," says Saugata Gupta, CEO, consumer products business,Marico.If the total number of urban households is around 70 million,10% of this would mean seven million households have already adopted the newbreakfast habit."Breakfast as a family meal has by and large ceasedto exist in metro India," declares Atul Sinha, vice-president (new businessdevelopment), Britannia Industries. Estimates indicate that 20% of urban Indiansmiss breakfast while another 15% have an inadequate breakfast. According toSinha, different members of the family have different time schedules, which hasresulted in fragmentation of breakfast as well as reduced the time forbreakfast. "As a result families have devised their own strategies to cope withthis situation. It ranges from missing breakfast, to having an inadequatebreakfast, to packing something to eat on the way to school or work, to havingstreet side snacks. It has also allowed people to accept and adopt packagedbreakfasts like cereals and oats," says Sinha.Clearly, foodcompanies see an opportunity in connecting with consumers and bridging theso-called nutrition gap at breakfast time. "Breakfast is a fast-evolving mealoccasion and the principal drivers for this change are nutrition andconvenience. At the upper end, consumers are looking for nutrition andconvenience while at the lower end affordability along with stomach fill is moreimportant," says a PepsiCo India spokesperson.While Kellogg, withits beginner’s luck, holds a major chunk (60%) of the total breakfastcereal market already, the balance is divided among other brands. What indicatesthe growing acceptance of cereals is the fact that in addition to its primaryfocus of tier I and tier II towns, Kellogg is now expanding its footprint totier III cities as well. Other companies are expected to follow the growthcurve.Drivers: health, convenience & modernretailSixteen years ago, when Kellogg entered India with its rangeof products, the retail revolution was yet to ignite. Household priorities onexpenditures were different then. Today, the scenario has changed. Householdsare in a better financial position to spend on packaged goods. "The trend isaccelerating because of both socio-economic factors and lifestyle reasons. Alsothe advent of organised and open format retails is also contributing to thegrowth," says Gupta.However, in addition to convenience, health isanother plank companies are using to promote their packaged breakfast options.When cereals promise a wholesome meal and ready-to-cook pastes offer tastecloser to one prepared at home, the consumer is only happy to sample them all.Especially when awareness about the susceptibility of Indians to degenerativediseases such as heart ailments and diabetes is rising."Health as aplatform is poised to grow. However, one has to be patient because changing foodhabits and balancing taste and health is an extremely difficult proposition,"says Gupta. While variety and taste are important, Pendurkar believes thathealth is certainly taking precedence among consumers who are making theshift.As for the price sensitivity factor, the single serve—Rs5/10 packs—seems to have done the trick. These packs have seen a robustgrowth and have helped increase penetration. Clearly, innovation would continueto play a significant role in growing the market.