Why Don't Big Businesses ‘Get' It?

Consumer India is excited, ready and waiting for relevant, value-right supply of all manners of food and food service. They are hugely under served by big businesses even as street food and small eateries evolve and innovate. Instead of waiting for Consumer India to develop a taste for foreign food and celebrating small steps here, can we add value to customer preferences today?

- Rama Bijapurkar

The mega market opportunity for packaged food in India is visible to all. About 270 million families, most of them having children, are economically, getting stronger. That there is, and will be, a continuously growing market both in terms of volume and per capita spends on food, is a no-brainer. Even today, 50-60% of India’s large economy is accounted for by household consumption and if you take the routine expenditure of Indian households, over half of that is food.

Food is not just about stomach gratification and nourishment. It is also about social expression, entertainment, and the adventure of new experiences, all of which Consumer India craves for. Lifestyles have more people staying out of the house for longer hours and having to make arrangements to eat without bankrupting themselves. Add to this, the anxiety of a self-employed population (which is what most of India is) to stay healthy so you can go out and earn your daily bread. There is also the focus on “brain food” for children to compete better and the old Indian belief that connects food to health. Put it all together and we have a perform storm of opportunity that is already here with a ready and waiting Consumer India which is not being served to anywhere near its potential or desire.