Kohinoor introduces 3 basmati varieties

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Related Articles

Aluminium futures up on Asian cuesBarley futures remain up on speculative buyingGuarseed futures up on short-coveringSilver futures fall from recent record

New Delhi: For catering to rising demand for basmati rice and protect its market share amongst high-valued consumers in India and abroad, Kohinoor Foods Limited (KFL), a Rs 650-crore company has decided to segregate into three varieties of rice. KFL aims to cater to varied taste of consumers in India and abroad and make the product distinct.

The company has introduced three premium varieties of basmati rice—Platinum, the authentic traditional variety, Gold, extra long basmati and Silver, new-generation super Basmati rice. Kohinoor introduced these varieties with the present price range of ‘basmati rice’ available in the market varying between Rs 25 per kg (broken or non-Basmati rice) to Rs 150 per kg (premium quality and packaged).

“Since basmati rice is made available to consumers at so many different levels of prices, we feel, in this highly cluttered market, the consumer is unaware of the real basmati rice. We now bring in basmati in its true form to its consumers,” Gurnam Arora, joint managing director, KFL, told FE.

With the introduction of varieties of basmati rice, the company intends to educate the consumers that the real basmati rice comes in three different varieties (Traditional, 1121 & Pusa), which have been approved by the government.

Platinum is the age-old and rare variety of traditional basmati rice, which is grown only in the foothills of Himalayas. Gold is the extra long basmati rice, which is the longest basmati rice available and Silver is the new generation super basmati rice, which has all the qualities of traditional rice and yet it yields is more.

On the exports front, Arora also said the government’s decision to re-classify Pusa 1121 rice variety under ‘Basmati’ category last year seems to be yielding results as the demand for this rice has increased across many countries such as Iran, Iraq and other Gulf and African countries. The company also plans to expand its market share by increasing its presence in Iran and Iraq and other Gulf countries. “We are targeting to export 1 lakh tonne of basmati rice during the current fiscal from around 60,000 tonne of exports achieved last year,” Arora said.