Godrej to bet big on ready to cook segment

Godrej Beverages & Foods (GBF) is looking at introducing more products in the ready to cook and ready to eat segments.

Over the next two months, the company is likely to introduce a range of cooking pastes like ginger, garlic etc. A Mahendran, director, GBF said the company was exploring options in this category.

"We have just relaunched the Tomato Puree and it has been rebranded as Godrej Smart Cook Tomato Puree. We will plan further expansions in similar product categories," said Mahendran.

Mahendran said the company was looking for acquisitions in foods, predominantly in India, but was open to international acquisitions in general categories like chips etc, but not local food.

"In foods the key is to understand the palate of the country to know what would work. This is difficult in a foreign market," he explained. Mahendran said domestic markets would continue to remain a priority for the company at present. "Convenience foods is one area we are keen to have a larger presence in," said Mahendran. Changing lifestyles are leading to an increasing number of people opting for packaged food, be it snacks or ready to cook meals. This, in addition to ready to cook, would also include the ready to eat foods, although the company has no immediate plans for the category.

In beverages, the company is in the exploratory stages of studying the market for coffee.

"We are open to acquisitions in the beverages space, both coffee and tea, but while in tea there are a number of strong regional brands, in coffee the local brands are too small," he said.

Post acquisition, the company has started utilizing the Nutrine distribution channels for its own products since July in the states where the GBF network was weak or not present. This is likely to result in an improvement in the company's performance over the next few quarters.

GBF will also roll out a 100 per cent fruit pulp bar under the Naturo brand in the Nutrine portfolio.

This, at present, is being test marketed in the southern states.