Trends In Indian Food Retail Business

Many of the leading food and beverage brands operating in India have realised that health and wellness has emerged as a mega trend which is shaping consumer preferences and shopping habits

- Jyotismita Sharma

India’s food and grocery market is quite huge. It is currently sixth largest in the world and retail contributes about 70 percent of the sales of this market. And with the Indian economy growing impressively and Indian consumers spending a large portion of their money on food, it is only obvious that Indian food retail business is at the cusp of a major expansion. But underlining the potential of the food retail business also calls for a brief introduction to the mammoth food business in India.

According to an official estimate, food consumption in India is currently valued at 370 billion and in less than a decade, i.e by 2025, it is expected to reach 1 trillion USD.

The food processing industry is considered small in India, compared to its population, but it still accounts for nearly a third of the country’s total food market.

Talking about the food processing industry at the World Food Forum on 3rd November in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted that the government had undertaken a range of transformational initiatives to boost this segment. The growth of the food processing industry in India in turn could give a fillip to the country’s food retail business.

The Big Picture

Food and grocery retail is part of India’s gigantic overall retail market, which, according to a joint study by the industry body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and MRRSIndia.com, is likely to reach 1.1 trillion USD by 2020 from the current level of 680 billion USD.

According to the study released on 15th November, retail and FMCG (fast moving consumer goods which include packaged food and beverages) markets in India are expected to grow at 20 percent and 21 percent respectively per annum. The FMCG market is expected to reach from the current level of 49 billion USD to 103.7 billion USD by 2020.