Ease, speed drive ready-to-cook food market

In his consumer research in the past two years, Akash Agrawalla, co-founder of spices company ZOFF Foods, discovered that people are keen to compress their cooking time.

- Shuchi Bansal

Working women rushing to their jobs, homemakers keen to savour experiences other than gastronomy and men who turned home chefs during Covid lockdowns - all want home-cooked meals but seek convenience in food preparation.

This prodded Agrawalla to join the growing number of big and small companies making ready-to-cook (RTC) food products. Last month, he launched gravies and marinades in partnership with Reliance Retail.

"Convenience is addictive. Look at the success of quick-commerce services. Likewise, RTC foods, which simplify cooking, will grow sharply over the next 5-10 years," Agrawalla said. A proprietary survey by Fireside Ventures shows RTC product volumes have doubled in the last two years, driven by batters and semi-prepared meals.

A June FMCG Pulse study by Kantar reflects similar data. The ready-to-cook (RTC) mixes doubled in volume in the last two years, adding 18 million new households in the period, it said. Category growth was led by batters and mixes. RTC curries added six lakh households in the same period.