The Ready-to-eat products market in India is growing due to several reasons including the increase of working women in the country, busy schedules and companies providing a range of products to make people eat more. By 2022, this industry is expected to grow at an impressive CAGR of 18.97 percent.

Maggi is seen as an instant noodle brand although it takes 10 mins to cook a Maggi meal properly and this is due to the marketing strategies used by Nestle to show it as a 2-minute noodles brand.

The need of such food products is also increasing due to the high demand in Indian consumers as urbanization is taking place at a quick rate. India has a large section of customers who are young consumers which makes them key drivers of RTE products.

Changing trends

Over the years, companies have been selling unhealthy products in this segment, but now the consciousness about health is raising and new products are coming to market. Most Indian consumers are cost conscious, which is a big challenge to the food producers and providers.
Globalization has influenced India and has changed the eating habits of people. For example, a professional working in an MNC is facing the time management issues which is still not a matter of issue for a farmer.

Consumer preferences

Ready to cook foods now have a new definition- the food which is easy, quick and tasty to serve with minimum efforts required. The main products in this market are:- instant noodles, pasta, rice meals, soups, snacks, ready to mix food.

Instant noodles possess the capacity highest growth because of its easy availability in retail stores and affordability. After instant noodles, the pasta and soup makers are showing best results and is becoming a new subject of competition for FMCG companies.

Problems in RTE industry

• The biggest problem in this industry is to provide healthy food at lowest possible prices.
• Freshness cannot be compromised if any brand wants to make big in this market.
• Packaging of ready-to-eat products is not that easy as a lot of complexities are faced by companies to make the food look natural.

Solutions to the problems

For keeping the food fresh packah=ging should be done carefully and by using the latest technology. Also, manufacturing houses should not be too far from the retail stores as transportation can increase the costs and also degrade the quality of food.

Too much money spending on TV advertising should be avoided as there are better ways of doing that using the power of social media. Mobile marketing should be focused on interactive techniques to make the audience feel like home as food is something we buy only after feeling some good vibes about the seller.

A proper research should be done before launching a product as data-driven results are reliable than those which are based on our thinking.