1.

INTRODUCTION
1.1 What is READY TO EAT Foods ?
Ready To Eat food is a concept of fast moving life and new emerging
technologies in entire world, while its inception into the Indian market has
been recent. With the increasing buzzes of the professional life the
consumption of RTE food has increased rapidly. According to economy
production increases when consumption is more to fulfill the requirements of
consumer industries are establishing new technologies. This type of food is
becoming popular because it saves time and labour. This food has extended
shelf-life and is available off the market shelves. Some of the brands are
yippee, bingo, Maggie, ashirwaad etc.

A “Ready-To-Eat” food product may be defined as any food product which

does not require any elaborate processing procedures on the part of
consumer before it is good enough for consumption. It is ready-to-eat as
soon as the pack is opened in a form, which is tasty and appetizing.

The retorting or sterilization process (technology that destroy all harmful

microorganisms hence increases the shelf life of food) ensures the stability
of the Ready-to-Eat foods in retort pouches, on the shelf and at room
temperature.

Categories of RTE food

The convenience food could be basically classified into two categories:

• Shelf – stable convenience food

• Frozen convenience food

Shelf-stable convenience food is further classified as:

• Ready-to-Eat (RTE) and Ready-To-Serve (RTS) food - e.g. Idlis, dosas, pav
bhaji, meat products like pre-cooked sausages, ham, chicken products,
curries, chapattis, rice, vegetables like aloo chole, navratan kurma, channa
masala etc.

• Ready-to-Cook food – e.g. instant mixes like cake mixes, gulab-jamun

mix, falooda mix, ice-cream mix, jelly mix, pudding mix etc., pasta products
like noodles, macaroni, vermicelli etc.

Quality of retort food

·         Safety - should be free from chemical additives and preservatives

·         High Nutritional value – proteins, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins,

minerals etc.

·         Good Taste

·         Food Appeal – is the sum of sensory characteristics: appearance,

flavor, smell and texture.

·         Suitability and Consumer Value: - freshness, shelf stability, suitability

for the intended purpose and convenience.

·         Reasonable price.

Method of retort processing

·         System analysis

·         Improper retort processing leads to the leads to the damage of

processor

·         Validation or Regular Monitoring—method to be chosen for retort

processing

·         Pressure probes also can be used for monitoring the pressure inside
the retort
Packaging style of RTE food

Required Quality for Retort Pouch

·         Heat resistance

·         Barrier performance

·         Aroma preservation

·         Bag fall resistance, pin-hole resistance

Indian cooking and lifestyle have undergone tremendous changes for the last 15 years as India
becomes the hub of many multinationals and there is a rapid change in people lifestyles.
The cooking style and eating habits in India varies drastically from southern part of
India to northern part of India.
Due to lifestyle pressure nowadays people prefer easy short way of cooking food rather
spending too much time in cooking.
Non-availability of raw materials to prepare masala and the tedious process involved in doing
so, has influenced people too much to choose such products. There is no specific category and
market potential for these products. Most of the dual income (both husband and wife are office
goers) families want to spend much less time on cooking because of less availability of time.
During weekends they want to spend time with their kids and outing, whereas in weekdays the
office duration is large and these factors forced them to go for buying such products.
Knowledgeable consumers, makes an impact on these products. Due to rise in literary levels,
proliferation of communication technology, consumers are becoming more aware of the foods
they intake and they take decision based on the wealth of resources available.
Indian Ready To Eat Food Market According to a recently published report by TechSci
Research “India Ready-to-eat Food Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2019”, the country’s
ready-to-eat (RTE) food market is projected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate )
of around 22% during 2014- 19. Top leaders of ready to eat food industry Marketers are trying
innovative ways to appeal the customers interested in convenience
Cooking

. MTR, one of the key players, has consistently tried to bring in new flavours to match the
customer’s need. It understands the regional differences in tastes in India.

When India becomes the hub of many multinationals and there is a rapid change in people
lifestyles. Modernization, majority of young population, Knowledgable consumers, will make an
impact on these products. Due to raise in literary levels,proliferation of communication
technology, consumers are becoming more aware of the foods they intake and they take
decision based on the wealth of resources available. There are datas available like India is
becoming capital for heart patients and diabetic,there is a much stress given on lifestyle and
food habits of peoples. Health conscious consumers are mostly well educated and can access to
different information available on the internet, magazines, TV shows, and word-of-mouth
information by their society people. More than male,the female consumers shown much
interest in knowing the level of calories,ingredients and certain product approval certificates in
choosing the products. This shows a good sign of healthy generation in India,especially in the
age group of 20-40. Females are also weight conscious and they decide the products based on
their consciousness.

1.2 READY TO EAT FOOD ITEMS

According to India Ready-to-eat Food Market Forecast & Opportunities,
2019, the Indian RTE food market is projected to grow at a CAGR of
21.99% during 2014-19, in value terms.

Increasing workforce, improving consumer lifestyle, and expanding

retail formats are the key drivers buoying growth in RTE food products
demand in the country. Northern and western region are the key
revenue contributors in the RTE food market, with major demand
emanating from cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, etc.
Segment wise, shelf stable RTE food demand exceeds that of frozen
RTE food in the country. This is attributable to the fact that frozen RTE
food needs proper refrigeration for maintaining their shelf life.
 However, high price of RTE food products is a major factor posing
threat as Indian consumers are innately price conscious and their
preferences generally change with even slightest change in price. This
presents RTE companies with an opportunity to come up with a variety
of high-quality RTE food products in affordable price range.

Globally, the demand for ready-to-eat (RTE) food products has been
increasing over the last few years on account of busier lifestyle of
consumers and their rising income levels. Due to increased
employment opportunities, a large number of people are migrating
from tier 1 and tier 2 cities to metropolitans, which is an important
driver for RTE food products in the country. Nuclear families and
bachelors residing in metros for study or employment purpose are
among the major consumers of RTE food products in India. The number
of working women is particularly on the rise, which is again driving the
demand for RTE food products. All these factors are creating
significant awareness about ready meals among consumers. Growth in
retail chains and outlets is also adding to the product awareness
among consumers in the country. Supermarkets, convenience stores
and hypermarkets are emerging as the key points-of-sale offering a
wide range RTE food products manufactured by leading companies
such as ITC, Kohinoor, Haldiram's, McCain, MTR, etc.

India Ready-to-eat Food Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019 report

explains following aspects related to Ready-to-eat food market in
India:

 Use of Retort Technology

 Adoption of New Technology
 Increasing Demand for Convenience Food
 Changing Consumption Pattern
 Innovative Promotional Techniques.
 1.3 Advantages of ready to eat foods (RTE)

 The major advantages of RTE food products are

- These foods never run out of stock as lot of companies have ensured efficient supply lines for
good business.
- They are convenient when you don't have a lot of time and are handy on the go. RTE Cereals
are Healthy alternative breakfasts.
- RTE food is safe enough to be consumed as the companies manufacture these foodservice
products under well protected conditions and they are processed under the rules and
regulations laid down by the government.
- The RTE frozen fruits and vegetables can be carried to any place even where these fruits and
vegetables do not grow at all. And as these fruits and vegetables are frozen, they do not lose
their nutrition v, RTE products such as processed foods and pre-packaged meals with their
advantages also have disadvantages like:

- They are full of chemical preservatives that keep them fresh and make them convenience
foods.
- They are full of salt, which isn't good for anyone if not moderated.
- As per health studies, they contribute to health conditions such as heart problems, high blood
pressure, kidney and liver problems.

RTE meals are useful for many people in different ways. For sick, old people who are unable to
make food and travelers the RTE meal is a boon. Backpackers/Hikers traveling around remote
areas find these meals a convenient method of storing, packing and consuming nutrient rich
food.

The fact remains that on a planet of six billion where majority of the people have less time on
their hands RTE foods are here to stay and hence accepted by a large number of people
ignoring its few demerits.alue.
 1.4 Importance of Convenience
food.
Convenient foods have become widely popular especially among working  class
people, teenage children, people living  in hostels, bachelors, sharing rooms
etc. Convenience foods are used to shorten the ti me of meal preparati on
at home. Some convenient foods can be eaten immediately or aft er adding some
water, heati ng or thawing.
Some popular, easy to prepare convenient foods are:  Masala Oats, Corn fl akes,
canned soup, frozen foods (sausages, ham, bacon  etc), bread etc. Other
convenience foods are cake mixes, spice  mix powder, sauces etc that are pre-
cooked and sold. Most of the convenience foods takes hardly less than  5
minutes to cook the food. They are oft en prepared or packaged before being
consumed and can be used at any ti me, quickly and easily by thawing or heati ng
the food.
It is a fact that convenient foods are designed to be cheap, tasty and non-
perishable but the ingredients added into these packaged products contain
added sugars and fats. Trans-fat is typically used as they don’t spoil the food and
corn syrup is a cheap way to make the product sweet.  Salt can also add awesome
fl avor very inexpensively to the  food. Most of the convenience foods have become
very popular because they can be served as a quickie snack or meal.
Convenience foods may off er some fantasti c such as less ti me spent in
the kitchen or planning meals, less preparati on ti me,  fewer left overs and easy
cleaning up.
Here let’s check on some of the advantages and disadvantages of convenience
foods:

1.5 Advantages of Convenience foods:

 No storing, buying or planning of ingredients.
 Can hardly get any leftovers.
 Preparation time is reduced to a great extent.
 Could have a variety of items especially for inexperienced cooks.
 Faster presentation and easy cleaning up.
 Less spoilage and waste occur with packaged convenience
foods.
  Transportation of packaged foods is cheaper especially in
concentrated form.
 Cost efficient for mass production and distribution.
 Ready to eat cereal and instant breakfast difficult to prepare at
home because of its expensive product technology used in
preparation.

1.6 Disadvantages of Convenience foods:

 May be less meat, fish, or cheese than you would include in
homemade versions.
 Cooking time is sometimes increased for thawing or longer
baking time.
 Harder to control fat, salt and sugar levels.
 Cost per serving may be higher than homemade.
 Convenience foods are typically high in calories, fat, saturated
fat, sugar, salt, and trans-fats.
 They tend to lack freshness in fruits and vegetables.

1.7 consumer perception towards ready to eat foods

Indian cooking and lifestyle have undergone tremendous changes for the last 15 years as India
becomes the hub of many multinationals and there is a rapid change in people lifestyles. The
cooking style and eating habits in India varies drastically from southern part of India to northern
part of India. Due to lifestyle pressure nowadays people prefer easy short way of cooking food
rather spending too much time in cooking. Non-availability of raw materials to prepare masala
and the tedious process involved in doing so, has influenced people too much to choose such
products. There is no specific category and market potential for these products. Most of the
dual income (both husband and wife are office goers) families want to spend much less time on
cooking because of less availability of time. During weekends they want to spend time with
their kids and outing, whereas in weekdays the office duration is large and these factors forced
them to go for buying such products. Knowledgeable consumers, makes an impact on these
products. Due to rise in literary levels, proliferation of communication technology, consumers
are becoming more aware of the foods they intake and they take decision based on the wealth
of resources available.
 1.8 Popular Ready To Eat Brands In India

Ready to eat food market is growing very fast in India, The RTE food companies like
Fazlani offers a gourmet experience with list of delightful cuisines of India.

Maggi Noodles, Nestle

Maggi brand of packaged instant noodles is the most popular in India, were returned to
Indian market after lifted ban and again available at some of India’s biggest retailers like
Future Group and Big Bazaar.

Maggi noodles are very popular not only in India but also in Malaysia, New Zealand and
Singapore where it has one of the largest market share.

Sunfeast YiPPee, ITC

Sunfeast’s Yippee noodles is now available in different flavors, also available on the list of
online grocery stores like BigBasket in India. The noodles segment brand of ITC is made
from Aashirvaad atta with four lip smacking variants.

MTR Sevai, MTR Foods

MTR foods company manufactures wide range of packaged foods in India, now owned
by Norwegian Orkla Group. The company has manufacturing facility at Bangalore in
India that offers traditional South Indian snacks item.

1.9 WHY READY TO EAT FOOD (RTE)

• Process of Indian food and its culture unit the core factors for popularization of able to eat
foods.
• Main motivation for these able to eat foods is quick growing foreign market.

• Retail outlet culture is currently growing quickly in Asian country.

• Shell lifetime of these foods area unit a minimum of 12-18 months.

• Quality, style and flavor of those foods remains nearly as good as recent up to the
termination date.

• Women desperate to pay longer out of the room.

• A lot of operating bachelors staying removed from homes.

1.10 KEY DETERMINANTS OF READY-TO-EAT/COOK PRODUCTS

Due to Change in lifestyle and FII investment there is a drastic change in Indian culture and
food habits.

Most of the family members doesn’t have time to cook the food in traditional way and most of
the families are living in separate environment. Despite modern cooking devices, consumers
still need ready-to-eat/cook food because it consumes very less time.

The change in lifestyle and dual income consumers are preferring these types of products. The
products may vary from noodles, pasta, masala packages, stuffed paratha,etc.. and many more.
Other than national player like nestle,pepsico,ITC,haldirams,cavinkare, there are many regional
players who is making foray into ready-to-eat segment.
 Rapid urbanisation is also one of the reasons for people to buy such products. Nowadays
people are also health conscious .

1.11 Key target audience

 India ready-to-eat food manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and other stakeholders

 Associations, organizations, associations and alliances related to ready-to-eat food
 Government bodies such as regulating authorities and policy makers
 Market research and consulting firms
The study is useful in providing answers to several critical questions that are important for
industry stakeholders such as ready-to-eat food manufacturers, distributors, dealers and policy
makers to understand which market segments should be targeted over the coming years in
order to strategize investments and capitalize on growth of the market

To target young consumer:

 Exciting and new flavors : cheese , spicy , Italian etc.

 New products and variants ; soupy noodles, pasta.
 Attractive and colourful packing.
 Test trials at shopping centers.

To target economy class:

 Basic product with no additional features.

 Smaller packs of previous two categories.
 Competitive or less price then rival products.
 Decent quality
 Better margin to the retailers.
 1.12 Transition in lifestyle

World Wide Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development Transition in

Lifestyle Accompanied with the changes in food intake, lifestyles of the people are also
changing and undergoing transitions at a faster pace all over the world. Over the past
two decades, there has been a sharp reduction in physical activity in all sections of the
Indian population because of increase in mechanization in occupational, domestic and
transportation spheres, both in rural and urban areas. Physical inactivity has been
regarded as an important risk factor for various non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Sedentary lifestyles have been majorly attributed to cause cancers of around 21- 25% of
the breast and colon, approximately 27% of diabetes and 30% of heart disease (WHO,
2003). The report by WHO stated that globally around 3.2 million people die due to
physical inactivity (WHO, 2010). Families with both parents working outside home, and
time constraints have become crucial factors in determining the food purchase and
consumption patterns. The food industry responded to these new family issues by
 increasing the numbers of convenience foods and prepared meals available.
Unfortunately, the food industries too have been promoting foods that are high in fat
and sugar and hence highly energy dense (French et al, 2001). Consumer Perception
about Ready-to-Eat.

1.13Brand Endorsements vs Consumer Purchase Behavior for Food

Brands endorsed by different previous achievements have weightage in driving sales. For
Example “Kodak-The official film of the 1996 Olympics”, “Ford-The bestselling truck in America”
is the way products are exhibited to consumer to stimulate purchase. There is a positive sign
towards brand endorsements and purchase behavior (Dean, 1999). Naming of country-of-origin
in the products strives consumer purchase behavior. Foreign labels are well received as
trustable brands when compare with local origin (Kinra, 2006). Brand image is constituted by
brand endorsements. Different endorsements suitable to that product will find positive
influence on purchase intention. Brand endorsements in food products, will give positive
influence to purchase. This instill confidence in the mind set of consumers. Even if its endorsed
by origin and other ethnic popularity, will find trigger in sales of that product.

1.14 Brand Endorsement vs Brand Equity for Food

Even both the variables constitute different activity on consumer behavior, comparing these
two will make aware of how one variables contributes to another variable or vice versa. Brand
endorsement will act as sub-factor when compare with brand equity. The macro term defined
here is brand equity. Brand endorsement will sow trust and breeds loyalty in the consumer
mind and in turn improves brand equity performance. brand equity and trust are consistently
the most important antecedents to both behavioral and attitudinal forms of customer loyalty
There is an hierarchical comparison between brand association with brand equity in Aaker’s
brand equity Model. Brand equity and associations promote brand extension in a positive way
and reduces advertisement expenditure of a company .

In the case of mergers brand equity and endorsement will contribute growth of a company. If
the brands are national and private brand, then each brand used to contribute either
companies towards growth.

Brand is a major factor and can be achieved by establishing relationship between endorsement,
loyalty and value. Brand will become great asset if the merger of variables keeps in momentum
with the consumer.
 1.5( A) Awareness of consumers
[1] That the need for effective nutritional education for young consumers has become
increasingly apparent, given their general food habits and behaviour, particularly during
adolescence and analyzed that the interaction between young consumers' food preferences
and their nutritional awareness behaviour, within three environments (home, school and
social). The authors suggested that food preferences are often of a 'fast food' type and
consequently the food habits of many young consumers may fuel the consumption of poorly
nutritionally balanced meals. While young consumers were aware of healthy eating, their food
preference behavior did not always appear to reflect such knowledge, particularly within the
school and social environments.

[2] To create awareness of high fat content of pies, studied consumer and producer awareness
about nutrition labeling on packaging. It is possible to produce acceptable lower fat pies and
food companies should be encouraged to make small changes to the fat content of food
products like pies. Regular pie eaters could be encouraged to select these as a lower fat option.
[3]The buying behavior is vastly influenced by awareness and attitude towards the product.
Commercial advertisements over television was said to be the most important source of
information, followed by displays in retail outlets.

B. Factors influencing consumption

[4] There is complete agreement between ranking given by the housewives and working
women regarding the reasons promoting them to buy ready to cook food products. Age,
occupation, education, family size and annual income had much influence on the per capita
expenditure of the Instant food products.

[5]Good quality and availability were the main factors, which influenced the rural consumers of
a particular brand of a product.

[6] Buying behaviour is very much influenced by experience of their own and of neighbour
consumers and his own family. The involvements of his own family members were exerting
maximum influence on his purchases. Above all, the quality of the product and its easy
Availability was the primary and the vital determinants of his buying behaviour.

[7]The change in consumption pattern was due to changes in food habits. If income and
urbanization increase among consumers, the percentage of income spent on consumption
increases. The urban consumer’s preferred mostly branded products compared to rural
consumers.