How is Dr. Oetkar Leading the Spreads Market in India

Western food-trends penetration in the Indian market is driving a change in breakfast patterns of people and is accelerating the use of spreads as convenient and comfort food in Indian households. The Indian spreads market reached a value of $202.80 million in 2021, according to IMARC Group. Going forward, the group expects the market to reach $674.20 million by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 22.40 percent during 2022-2027. One of the leaders in this category is Dr. Oetkar, which holds around 50 percent of the market share in the category.

“Indian spreads market is a little challenging because different people are defining this market differently. This market is segregated into two segments, which are traditional spreads like butter, jam, and honey, and new-age spreads such as mayonnaise, peanut butter, pizza toppings, etc,” Oliver Mirza, MD & CEO - Indian Subcontinent, Dr. Oetkar said.

Offline Play

Dr. Oetkar is present in more than 600 cities across India. It has a presence in around 1 lakh physical stores. For instance, in Delhi, the brand sells its products in Modern Bazaar and Rajmandir. Additionally, it has a presence in around 15,000 premium stores in the city.

“Therefore, in every nook and corner and pin code of Delhi, we have our presence,” Nrusimha Charan Panda, VP - Sales & Logistics, Dr. Oetkar India stated.

Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru account for about 40 percent of the brand’s total business.

Online Business

The company is selling on e-commerce platforms like BigBasket, Flipkart, Amazon, and Blinkit, previously known as Grofers. Apart from these, it is also available on emerging and local operators like Milkbasket, which has a strong hold in North India.

The e-commerce business currently contributes 6 percent of the total sales of Dr. Oetkar. The brand expects this business to contribute around 10-12 percent in the next two years.

“We are evaluating if it would be feasible to launch the D2C website as we don’t want to jump into it because the question is how we do that. Especially, in the case of mayonnaise, the logistics cost is really high for a small pack of mayonnaise which is around Rs 79,” Panda asserted.

Brand Portfolio

The brand is operating in around 10 categories. Peanut Butter is the top-performing category of Dr. Oetkar followed by spreads, Italian sauce, cakes, and waffles. Under these 5 categories, the brand offers 100 SKUs. However, there are 20 SKUs in these categories which contribute to 80 percent of the business.

Dr. Oetkar introduced vegan mayonnaise in Q1 of this year.

“Next month, we are launching a peanut butter that has 37 percent protein, which is the highest protein in the category. We are coming up with this for the target groups who are gym-goers and have an active lifestyle,” Mirza added.

What the Future Holds?

Dr. Oetkar is present in 44 countries globally. Going forward, the brand is planning to expand its presence in Bangladesh.

Last year, the company’s revenue grew by 25.8 percent over the previous financial year in the Indian market. It expects to touch Rs 500 crore revenue in this calendar year.

“Firstly, we became number 1 in the mayonnaise category and now we are number 1 in peanut butter as well. Our focus this year would be to expand the reach of cakes and peanut butter categories and reach more number of stores with the right kind of products and SKUs,” Mirza concluded.