For the first time in the country, city based food industry manufactures Heat and Eat food products.
by S. Kenneth Shishir
In the current fast changing and fast moving lifestyle we have all failed to realise the importance of nutrition in our food intake. With no time to cook a good healthy meal, most of the working class couples and families are moving towards heat and eat food products.
Although the Ready to Eat (RTE) food category was first introduced in India in 1987, it was not well received by Indian consumers due to the dependence on traditional cooking and in the early 2000s, with the advent of new technology that improved the shelf life of products and the growth of storage and distribution centres, RTE products began to gain popularity.
The heat and eat food industry in India, has been growing for the last three years and is expected to grow in the next five years due to rapid urbanisation.
Food has always been an important part of every Indian no matter which country he/she lives in.
This has prompted lots of food manufacturing companies to come up with new innovative ideas to woo its customers and one such popular city based company is KAVERI FOODS which was established in the year 2013.
Noticing the growth potential in this particular sector, Mysore based Kaveri Foods has launched their Heat and Eat products brand called RefriFresh.
They manufacture Ready-To- Eat products made out of 100% natural ingredients without any Preservatives, Artificial Colours or Flavours. Their USP lies in their ability to deliver home-cooked freshness and taste in the refrigerated format through minimal processing.
SOM met Ashwin Rajagopal, CEO of the company which is marketing its Heat and Eat products under the brand name ‘RefriFresh’ at his industry at Hebbal Industrial Area in city and had a brief chat about his products.
Ashwin, a MBA graduate in International Marketing from Australia speaking to SOM said that the company Kaveri Foods, sister concern of Kaveri Enterprises, a company which holds a strong market presence in edible oil industry sector was established in the year 1945 with the brand name R.G. manufactures of R.G brand Vanaspati and is popularly known as R.G Ghee among old Mysoreans.
Speaking about the new venture, he said that the company was looking at diversification into new areas in the food industry and thought of Ready to Eat industry which is growing at a tremendous rate with bright growth prospects.
He further said that as they decided to venture into Ready to Eat segment, they thought of coming out with a product that is unique with regards to technology and consumer requirement and decided to come out with South Indian delicacies, as they wanted to be known as a company that introduced south Indian delicacies on Heat and Eat format.
The company is currently concentrating in South Indian Breakfast and Dinner category.
They manufacture combo packs like Idli Sambar, Masala Paddu with Tomato Chutney, Mini/Button Idli with Sambar, Set Dosa with Coconut Chutney and Rava Idli with Coconut chutney apart from Sambar and Tomato Chutney which are all on ready to eat format and all that the consumer has to do is just open the pouch heat them in microwave or on a stove for a minute or two and it’s ready to be consumed.
All their products are manufactured only after consultations with CFTRI.
RefriFresh currently has nine Stock/Store Keeping Units (SKUs) and are planning to introduce more products like Pongal, Kesari bath, Onion Dosa which at present are available in Mysore and Bangalore and by the end of 2015 they would expand the market in Tamil Nadu and other States in South India, by targeting working families and senior citizens as their products have the traditional aroma and taste, said Ashwin and added that their products are minimally processed to keep up with the quality, taste, texture and quality of the products and added that the lifespan of the products are 35 days which would be increased to 60 days.
As the pioneers and one-of-its-kind in the industry ‘Refrifresh’ brand is being recognised as a synonym for tasty, fresh South Indian delicacies.
Asked if he was looking at other segments like spices or ready mixes he said there are ideas for the same and are still in the pipeline.
He ended by saying that his company is proud to have implemented successfully a unique technology that was pioneered by them for the first time in India.
The products are available at More Mega Stores, Easy Day and Loyal World in city.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 31st, 2014