Challenges and Prospects of Convenience Food in India: An Overview

In today's scenario, convenience food industry is getting adapted to Indian type of requirements and is growing leaps and bounds in India. The present study throws light on convenience food along with categories, market size, opportunities and challenges of convenience food market in India. Convenience food is commercially prepared food designed for ease of consumption. Ready-to-eat (RTE) foods, Ready-to-use (RTU) foods and beverages are the three major categories of convenience food. In India, the convenience food industry, with a 90 percent contribution of RTE segment in 2013, has been growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15 percent from 2007 to 2013. The dairy products segment constitutes about 35 percent of the total convenience food industry in India. Changing demographics of the Indian population, convenience and nutritional benefits are the opportunities that fuel the Indian convenience food market. In addition, varied tastes, strong unorganized market, higher prices and poor infrastructure are the key challenges for Indian convenience food industry.