Breakfast Bonanza

With consumers demanding greater choice, convenience and health benefits in their morning eating occasion, India’s growing breakfast foods market is spurring innovation in many forms – new formulations, flavours and formats.

- Sanjay Kumar

 

The need for greater convenience, changing social mores and an increasingly mobile workforce is changing the definition of breakfast. Increasingly, consumers are blurring snacktime and mealtime, they desire foods that are portable, nutritious and simple to prepare or eat. Some consumers are eating breakfast foods as a snack, while others eat a snack instead of a meal for breakfast. This has influenced categories, especially cereal, to cater to these behaviors. So, apart from the traditional, tried and tested breakfast foods, operators are evolving breakfast menus, incorporating more veggies, ethnic ingredients, healthy items and savory flavors that are characteristic of other dayparts. And that’s right on target with what consumers want today, an increasing number of whom are well-travelled, have sufficient exposure and nurture higher culinary expectations.

So, while traditional Indian breakfast comfort foods continue to hold sway, there is also a burgeoning demand for a more adventurous and contemporary breakfast menu. “Traditional breakfast options continue to be a part of the Indian breakfast table and there is a big segment of people who still prefer home-cooked food for breakfast. However, in light of the growing importance of health and wellness in our lives, consumers are now making an effort to ‘healthify’ traditional meal items by using healthier ingredients,” says Mohit Anand, Managing Director at Kellogg India and South Asia. The sentiment is echoed by Devna Khanna, Director, i2i Consulting and India Trade Representative for the California Walnut Commission. She says: “Usage of nuts, quinoa, dried fruits and seeds like chia, flax, pumpkin and sunflower is on the rise. Nuts, cereals, eggs, fruits and juices are recording maximum growth.”