LT Foods keen to enhance ‘health and convenience’ flavour

Buoyed by the strong growth momentum for in-home consumption due to the pandemic, LT Foods will focus on ramping up distribution and expanding its product portfolio to tap into emerging needs of the consumer for convenience and health.

The packaged food company is known for its rice and rice-based food brands such as Daawat, Royal and Heritage.

We have been working on adopting new strategies in this ‘new normal’: LT Foods MD & CEO

Ashwani Arora, MD & CEO, LT Foods, said, “With the rising in-home consumption trends, we witnessed a strong growth momentum as consumers sought brand assurance, hygiene and quality during the pandemic and there was a consumption shift towards packaged basmati rice. We have acquired new customers in the past six months, increasing the penetration of our products.”

He said the company will focus on continuing to “recruit new consumers” by expanding distribution and strengthening its healthy and convenience product portfolio in India and international markets. The company is looking to expand distribution of its products from about 1,50,000 outlets to 3,00,000 outlets in the country.

LT Foods launches cuppa rice; gets first order from Indian Railways

“Besides growing our core business, we are also focusing on tapping into the emerging needs of consumers for healthy products by ramping up distribution of our quick brown rice and fortified rice range, besides the ready-to-eat product range with Cuppa Rice. We will also be introducing new products in the culinary enabler space,” Arora added.

The company, which launched its rice sauté sauces under brand Daawat through the e-commerce route, will now be taking the range to retail shelves. Daawat Cuppa Rice range will also be further distributed through e-commerce platforms, modern retail stores, and made available at airports, railway stations, educational institutions and corporate hubs. Further, the company is ramping up the distribution of its rice-based packaged snack brand Kari Kari to key metros.

PLI scheme

Talking about the rapid growth on the e-commerce channel witnessed by packaged food companies, Arora said, “In the times of the pandemic, e-commerce’s share in our total revenues has nearly doubled to 7-8 per cent as consumers seek convenience for purchases.”

Leveraging on the mega trends of fitness and health, the company had test-launched Ecolife brand for organic food products, which includes rice, red rice, black rice and flours, among others. Arora said the brand is now being launched at a pan-India level at premium modern retail outlets and on e-commerce platforms.

Asked about the government’s PLI scheme for the food processing sector, he said, “This is a good move and will fuel the growth of exports of processed food products and enhance the competitiveness of Indian brands. We are awaiting more details regarding this scheme.”

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