Packaged Breakfast Food Providers See Big Opportunities In Westernizing Indian Market

With busy Indian consumers in urban areas demanding more quick and easy breakfast options, big food companies are rushing to fill the void. It’s a big opportunity: industry estimates peg the branded breakfast foods market in India at $113 million and growing. Involved in the sprint to the Indian breakfast table are Britannia Industries, Marico, PepsiCo, Kellogg India and MTR Foods. Britannia, whose bread, biscuit, butter and cheese products are already familiar to Indian consumers, is market testing packaged products such as buttermilk oats and sweet multi-grain porridge under the “Healthy Start” brand. A Kellogg India study of Indian breakfast habits found that least one in three Indians and more women than men skip breakfast daily, presenting a huge opening for packaged breakfast providers.