People these days want to experiment with their food. They are willing to try new cuisines. Having said that, the quality of food has become a major concern for the younger generation of consumers and they don’t mind spending a little more if they are getting the best quality without compromising their health. Keeping all of this in mind, the food producers in India are constantly trying to come up with new food items and the ready-to-eat food industry is witnessing tremendous growth.
Travel, social media, availability of diverse food options, and exposure to the western culture have made Indians experimental. West-following has always been a tendency for Indians and it also applies to eating habits.
If you are wondering what has contributed to the demand surge in the ready-to-eat segment in India, then here’s the answer.
Megha Poddar, Founder & CEO of White Light Food tells us, “It’s interesting to understand the changing consumption patterns of average Indians and their lifestyles to know the rise in demand for Ready-to-Eat. India is the only nation in the world that has a live kitchen in every single home, be it a hut or a mansion. And a person who knows how to cook, which was back in the days of the mother or the lady of the house or maybe a full-time/part-time cook.”
“Meals were freshly made at home and carried to the workplace or schools and colleges and eating meals not cooking at home meant going to a restaurant or somewhere out to eat. The only thing close to ready-to-eat was Maggi noodles. Sort of a staple at people’s houses. The first tryst with ready-to-eat was when Indians would travel abroad and struggled to find vegetarian meals there that were palatable. Or for the NRI’s who craved Indian cuisines and complex Indian sweets that they couldn’t manage making on their own. So, we had brands come up with RTE dals and subjis and gulab jamuns and the like,” she adds.
Cut to now, the dynamics have change. The possible reasons could be – Less time in hand, busy lifestyles, live full-fledged kitchens being replaced by pantries at homes, nuclear family culture coming in more (absence of the chef mother in the house), newer coming of age women who are not trained to cook as they don’t like to (as compared to their elder gen who was compelled to learn it), lack of patience to go through the prep times of a dish, service providers like railways and airlines opting out for quick cheap meals to lower their costs as compared to elaborate meals they used to serve earlier, and several other reasons. “These have all cumulatively resulted in this demand burst for ready-to-eat where right from a basic dal chawal to a fried medu vada and even a chapati is available in either dehydrated, frozen, or vacuumed forms.”
There’s a constant debate where people argue if the packaged food is heathy or not. Clarifying that, Megha Poddar says, “Personally, I don’t think it is healthy unless you don’t have another option. Food is supposed to be consumed fresh. The only ways of traditional foods that had a long life were probably pickles and air-tight kept dry snacks that were made at home. This was due to the former having been made with oil preservation techniques and the latter due to the zero-water content in it. Today, as many brands claim, they are all injected with some sort of artificial shelf-life enhancer. It is ok to consume but in moderation.” Everything around us is evolving with the key basic factor – CONVENIENCE. Ready-to-Eat is also on the same principle. People who don’t have the time, patience, skill set, spending capacity, and resources to consume fresh meals on a daily basis, are opting for Ready-to-Eat food. She adds, “On top of that brands are constantly innovating to give the consumer Ready-to-Eat category dishes which taste closest to their freshly made counterparts. Though nothing can ever beat something that’s made freshly in terms of taste,” she says adding, “However, the Ready-to-Eat Segment is only here to grow with food technologists putting in an honest effort to better the dish in form preservation, shelf life, and flavours.”