The Hindu Business Line : KCL plans to make Murginns a foods and snacks brand

Chennai, March 21 New-on-the-block breakfast cereals maker, KCL Foods, which has introduced its brand Murginns, intends to develop itself as a full-fledged foods company. While it has no intentions of getting into the lunch and dinner baskets with ready-to-eat foods, the company President and CEO, Mr Sanjeev Khemka’s avowed aim is to venture into functional foods and snacks with a definite “Indian taste” twist to them.

Mr Khemka told Business Line, he wants to spot niches in the Indian foods market and launch products that are unique in the market, such as his forthcoming toasted “no-oil” snack foods and “fun-to-eat” nutritious cereal bars.

Says Mr Khemka: “I am not sure if customers are ready for ready-to-eat foods. For lunch and dinner there’s a variety of foods on offer, but not so for breakfast; it’s something that one has to make at home, when you’re rushing to school and office and there’s no time to go out and eat.”

KCL Foods’ range of breakfast cereals include extruded products such as honey pops and honey rings, instant porridge, muesli, a recent launch of cornflakes and a planned one of oats. In addition, it has a wafer snack for kids called Ctix.

KCL, which intends a quick roll-out of its products, has just launched Murginn’s cornflakes. Cornflakes constitute 60-65 per cent of the breakfast cereals market. The fledgling company expects to challenge the big daddy of breakfast cereals, Kellogg’s, with its aggressive pricing. While Kellogg’s is priced at Rs 125 for a 475 gm pack, Murginns is priced at Rs 95. “The main issue in breakfast cereals is affordability. We will be 30 per cent lower than the market leader and 15 per cent higher than the next lowest price. With the right pricing the market will grow; we expect market growth to be 30 per cent this year.” The recent Budget has halved the excise duty on breakfast cereals to 8 per cent but companies such as Kellogg’s have said that this will only help keep prices in check and the cereals category may not see a price cut.

Market size

Mr Khemka estimates the size of the breakfast cereals market is Rs 300 crore but says it’s growing fast. Travel, smaller families and modern retail, growing health-consciousness and a willingness to try different foods has helped convenience foods grow, he adds.

KCL Foods is part of the Rs 200-crore KCL Ltd, which is among the largest paper packaging companies in the country. The company is also a contract manufacturer for Heinz for its Complan and Glucon D brands. It earlier made Sunfill for Coca-Cola as well.

KCL soft launched the Murginns brand last July and expects it to be soon distributed countrywide. It is now retailing through national chains such as Reliance Fresh and Big Bazaar.

KCL Foods has a 600- tonnes-a- month plant in Himachal Pradesh which can host 12 different product lines, says Mr Khemka. KCL has acquired 12 acres of land in Cheyyar in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu, of which five acres is intended for a packaging material factory and the rest a foods facility.

The group has customers who have established facilities in the South and proximity to them would help.

KCL Foods is also looking at a range of gluten-free products. Mr Khemka says he will look at launching a new product every month. The emphasis is on foods that taste like local cuisine. “We are definitely working on doodh jalebi, which goes with hot milk,” says Mr Khemka, referring to a traditional breakfast fare in northern India.

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