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Packaged food company Weikfield Foods Pvt Ltd is foraying into the ready-to-eat segment. The home-grown company, which in known for products such as custard powder, baking powder and pastas, is also aiming to touch the ₹600-crore-mark in terms of gross revenues over the next three years.
The company has begun test-marketing ready-to-eat custard in tetrapacks to strengthen its presence in the western desserts space.
DS Sachdeva, Chief Executive Officer, Weikfield Foods, said, “We have been pioneers in bringing custard to Indian homes. After nearly six decades of this journey, we are now launching custard in the ready-to-eat format in a bid to grow the brands’ salience among younger and new-age consumers. The custard penetration in Indian households is still about 5 per cent. We hope to increase the segment’s penetration in the country and revitalise this segment.”
Sachdeva said the company will initially be test-marketing the new product in a few cities and by next year it plans to expand its distribution to the top metros and cities. The company also aims to target B2B channel of bakeries and restaurants for sales.
Weikfield Ready-to-Eat Custard can be stored in the ambient condition and is available in a 200 ml trial pack and 1 litre pack priced at ₹60 and ₹250, respectively.
“The packaged food industry is undergoing a huge transformation, post the pandemic, fuelling the in-home consumption demand trends. Mobility restrictions have eased and demand in out-of-home channels have see an uptick in recent times. But we believe the in-home consumption demand will continue to remain robust as consumers and companies continue to adopt flexible work models. The new-age consumer are increasingly also looking at convenience,” he added.
In-home consumption
The company said rising in-home consumption helped it garner strong growth in the past fiscal. “Our gross revenues are currently at about ₹300 crore and we aim to double this in the next three years. We will continue to look at product innovations that will help offer convenience for consumers,” Sachdeva added. The company is also aiming to increase e-commerce channel share to total sales to double digits in the next 2-3 years.
“ With rising commodity inflation we have had to take price hikes to the tune of 5-7 per cent. Urban demand has been under stress due to the financial impact of the pandemic and we are seeing consumers also downtrading to smaller packs. But we are hoping to see stronger recovery trends during the upcoming festival season,” he added.
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