Asian food brands make a home in India

Chocopie - those cream-filled, marshmallow-style cookies - are a favourite with most children; they love having chocopies from top brands like Lotte and Orion whenever they can. But if you thought these treats came from an Indian manufacturer, think again. Orion is imported from Korea. Lotte, also a Korean company, set up manufacturing in India a few years earlier, after seeing the potential for chocopie in the domestic market.

Lotte's chocopie is estimated to have annual sales of Rs 250-300 crore in India, prompting the company to ramp up production here. It set up its second plant last year in Delhi (the first was opened in Chennai, after acquisition of Parry's from Murugappa Group) and it is planning third facility in the country in the near future, say industry sources.
 

INCREASING PRESENCE

• Asian brands from the West, South, East and Southeast Asia are slowly but steadily making their way into India
• Contributors to this trend, include a growing number of Indians
• The evolution and growth of modern trade in the last decade is also contributing to this trend
• Size of these brands are small — most of them are under the Rs 100-cr bracket

Lotte is not the only East Asian brand to make home in India. There is Kikkoman, Japan's largest domestic producer of soy sauce, used in most hotels, bars, restaurants and fast-food joints in India. Sales of this brand, according to industry sources, are estimated to be nothing less than Rs 100 crore a year.

So go products such as Tong Garden, into nuts and snacks, headquartered in Singapore. Or Lion Dates from Dubai or Mama Noodles and Koka Noodles from Thailand or Mogu Mogu juices, also from Thailand. All these brands are estimated to have sales of close to Rs 100 crore a year in India. While these numbers are small in comparison to some of the big food and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands operational in India, the fact that they have takers here points to their growing acceptability, experts say. Clearly, Asian brands - be it East, West, South or Southeast Asian - are making home in India and the trend is expected to grow.

Devendra Chawla, group president, food & FMCG, Future Group, says: "Thanks to more international travel, purchasing power and awareness levels of Indians, food and food brands from different regions, including Asia, are travelling rapidly these days. A food product popular in a certain market is no longer restricted by the borders of that area. It is leaping into other territories, contributing to the growth of this category."

Importers such as Amit Lohani, managing director of Delhi-based Max Foods, says Asian brands are also making their way into this country due to agreements such as on the South Asian Free Trade Area or the Asean-India Free Trade Area that allow easy entry of these products due to lower tariffs and duties. "Taste profiles of Indians are also changing and in many respects, the evolution of modern trade is aiding growth of this category," he says.

The point about changing taste profiles is endorsed by Mohit Khattar, managing director, Godrej Nature's Basket, a chain of stores from the Godrej Group that specialises in imported food. "I find people ready to experiment with cuisines. They are willing to try out new products and spend money if quality is good. We have responded to this by stocking products from the Asian region because we clearly see a market for these," he says.

Chawla, whose employer is among the largest retailers in the country, says trade commissions led by embassies of different countries are now making presentations to his team at regular intervals. "Quite often, I am surprised at the variety and range of products on offer," he says. Future Group, as with most other retailers, now has an international desk, whose task is to identify products from Asia and other areas that can be brought into the country.