BRANDING GAME IN FOOD COMMODITIES

In recent times there has been a spurt of brands in commodities like Atta,basmatirice & edible oil According to a survey branded atta market is growing at 15% annually The large players in the segment are Hindustan lever (Annapurna), ITC (AASHIRVAAD) According to an estimate the packaged Atta industry in India is a 700 crore market With Aashirvaad having 45% market share and Annapurna 25% Similarly in branded basmati India Gate a brand owned by KRBL has a market share of 25% with the market growing at 15% annually In the edible oil segment about 40% of the total consumption is packaged Here different segments have different priorities In cities health enjoys a premium,whereas in rural areas people want value for money The branded oil is witnessing a larger growth than the edible sector as a whole Here the leading brands are Marico industries Saffola (13% growth) ,Sweekar (8%), Mother diary Dhara (6%) & Adani wilmar Fortune (24%) Similarly Nature fresh is doing fairly well with growth touching double digit But in Sugar however brands are yet to make any substantial progress companies like Mawana sugars,bajaj hindustan,Balarampur chini have not been successful All these developments augures well for branded food commodity industry The developments on the FDI front allowing companies to own 100% in the food processing sector,the removal of dividend balancing norms and other similar procedures has helped the industry With Modern retail format has started making foray, the future of brands in food commodity sector looks promising