Cargill India expands edible oil portfolio; eyes 10% mkt share of healthy oil segment

Food major Cargill India Tuesday said it has expanded its edible oil portfolio to launch healthy blended cooking oil and is targeting a market share of 10 per cent in this premium segment within two years.

Cargill India, part of the US food major Cargill, is a leading edible oil player in the country and sells cooking oils under NatureFresh, Gemini, Sweekar, Leonardo olive oil and Rath brands.

The company Tuesday launched 'NatureFresh Acti Heart' cooking oil, blended equally with Canola and rice bran oils.

"We are expanding our offering in health and wellness segment in edible oil category. This cooking oil will help cope with a sedentary lifestyle which makes one prone to obesity and heart diseases," said Milind Pingle, Director (sales and marketing), Cargill's food business in India.

He said the health oil segment --comprising olive oil, canola oil, rice bran oil and blended oils --- has a market size of about 3 lakh tonne annually.

"We are targeting to occupy 10 per cent of this segment in next 24 months," he told reporters.

Healthy oil segment would grow faster at over two times than the normal oils.

Pingle said the company's new cooking oil has higher Omega 3 than the products available in the market.

Omega 3 helps in fighting inflammation and provides a healthy lipid profile.

On other food business, he said the company has tied up with Mother Dairy to sell NatureFresh wheat flour (atta).

"We are also testing our new wheat products like 'sooji', 'maida' and 'daliya' in the market," Pingle said.

Apart from consumer brands, Cargill's food business in India offers wide range of food ingredients solutions for bakery and food manufacturers through B2B business.