A virgin market so far, branded pulses are quickly catching the fancy of corporate bigwigs.
It is evident from the increasing number of diversified companies getting into the retailing of these. The latest entrant, Adani Wilmar, a subsidiary of the Adani Enterprises conglomerate, has set its eyes on a variety of branded pulses including dals. The company has already lined up investments for processing mills.
"We see a big future in branding of all commodities. We anticipate a similar conversion from purchase of loose un-branded pulses to the branded form. We have started with toll mill operations and have plans to invest more than Rs 100 crore in our own milling units in the near future," said a spokesperson of Adani Wilmar.
Currently, India's pulses consumption is estimated at 17.5 million tonnes yearly, while domestic production has stagnated at 14-15 mt. But only one per cent is sold under branded consumer packs; the bulk, including urad, tur, moong and chana are sold in a loose format.
Moong, masoor, arhar, urad, chana and rajma comprise 80 per cent of the pulses market. Adani Wilmar wants all these (whole and split variants) in its portfolio, eventually.
Tata Chemicals had launched branded pulses in December 2010 under an 'i-Shakti Dals' brand name. The company is taking a step forward, to take on the competition. "Post an overwhelming response (to Tata I-Shakti Unpolished Dals) from customers, we are exploring direct-to-home delivery options or 'Dal-on-Call' for customers. We are starting this in Mumbai. We are expecting healthy growth in our branded pulses sales over the next two to three years," said Ashvini Hiran, chief operations officer, consumer products.
Considering the small size of the branded pulses market, regional players have command over national ones. However, companies with a larger retail network and strong supply chain are making efforts for a national presence. While Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail, and the Future Group's Food Bazaar do in-house branding of pulses and sell through own retail chains, Tata Chemicals, Adani Wilmar and Lakshmi Overseas Industries sell their brands through the modern format of organised retailing.
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The recent approval to foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retailing could boost the segment. "We think it would bring in a positive change in retailing of all commodities, specially pulses. Customers would have more options to choose from and the overall category would grow, with more companies/brands coming in," said the Adani Wilmar official.
Experts in the sector believe the branding of pulses would bring value addition in the commodity. "If companies are entering branded pulses, we can expect value addition and innovation in the products, as we've seen in spices and beverages like tea, coffee etc," said an industry source in this city.