Growing Appetite for 'Gourmet'
Growing Appetite for 'Gourmet'

Growing young working population coupled with their willingness to experiment with new cuisines and to pay more for higher quality ingredients will drive the growth of the gourmet food category for a long time, says Abhay Jaiswal CEO,Nilgai Foods.

With many players entering the gourmet segment, do you still consider it a ‘niche’ category? Kindly comment.

The gourmet food category in India is certainly set to grow very rapidly and it is hard to imagine that it will remain a niche category forever. There are number of factors responsible for the growth of this category. Firstly, with rising disposable income of Indians, they become more open to experiment with new types of cuisine and more willing to pay for higher quality ingredients and better presentation. Besides, young working population in India will keep growing not only in tier I cities, but also in tier II markets, who will drive the growth of the gourmet food category for a long time.

There are favourable factors from the supply side too. More and more international brands are eyeing the opportunities in the Indian market and making their way into the country. This is bringing newer products into the market further whetting the appetite of the consumers. Also, as the Government moves to facilitate the entry of large multinational retailers, the whole supply chain side will get more organised, facilitating the growth of new product categories like gourmet ready to eat meals etc. 

What are major trends in this category in metro and upper non-metro markets?

The product choice is definitely increasing in the metros as more and more brands, both local and international, enter the market. What is also interesting is that in non-metro markets while we are seeing some rise in demand for gourmet food, there are markets including Chandigarh, Jaipur and Cochin that are showing rapid growth.

What is your marketing strategy to enhance brand visibility?

We tend to focus our efforts primarily on in-store displays and promotions. We also give special attention to our social media platforms like twitter and Facebook, where we have crossed 200,000 followers within a span of few months.

What are the investment opportunities in this segment?

For us the primary investment will continue to be in research and development, so that we keep bringing out unique and innovative products. Also, we will invest whatever is necessary to grow our distribution network, not only in the country but also for some export markets.

Who is your target audience?

Our target buyer is an urban customer in tier I and II cities, who shops at A+ grocery stores and occasionally experiments with imported food products.

Please throw some light on your expansion plans.

It is important for us to prove our distribution abilities and operating model in the first few markets that we are launching. We plan to get to a thousand odd stores fairly rapidly, but beyond that our expansion plans will take shape based on the results we achieve in these markets. We are doing the required leg-work in building distribution partnerships that will enable us to establish a pan-India footprint, but right now it is more important for us to perfect our operations in our initial markets. 

 

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