Sumeru Helping Indian Kitchens Thaw Towards Frozen Foods

- Mithun Appaiah

Frozen food has finally made its way into the Indian kitchen. Once out of bounds, frozen, ready-to-eat/cook products are becoming regulars on our grocery list. The changing Indian lifestyle, the rise in the number of women in the workforce and young professionals living alone, and the resultant time-paucity, along with the increasing at home socialising, the preference for nuclear families, the growing acceptance of Western food, and the need for on-the move freshly-cooked foods are the reasons for increasing demand for frozen foods and ready-to-eat meals/ microwaveable meals in India.

Indians are eating more packaged and processed foods than ever, and their reservations about eating frozen foods - long dubbed an unsatisfying diet option or loaded with artificial ingredients - are starting to thaw.

According to a 2015 ASSOCHAM report, about 76 percent of nuclear families in India today feel that they have less time to spend in the kitchen. This number has only increased in the recent years. Increasingly more households in urban India today associate ready-to-eat and frozen food products with convenience, fuelling the sale of these products in the country. India’s frozen food market which stood at US $310 million in 2017 is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 16 percent to reach US $754 million by 2023.

Demand for frozen snacks, which together with frozen vegetables accounts for 85 percent of the market volume is expected double in the next four to five years due to supply and demand side growth, other categories like the meal will gain momentum.