Making millets mean more to rice and wheat eaters

While presenting the Union Budget earlier this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised that the government aims to promote super grain ‘millets’. India will focus on promoting domestic consumption, and work on national and international branding of millets over the next five years, the FM highlighted while presenting the budget.

As the Indian government plans to promote millets as a ‘superfood’ in 2023, the United Nations has also declared it as the ‘International Year of Millets’.

As prominent bodies begin to undertake measures to promote millets, companies operating in the FMCG space are also expanding their millet-based product portfolio. Conglomerates like ITC, Adani Wilmar, Tata, among others, have recently introduced a range of millet-based products.

The market for millets is developing, and companies are still trying to identify various ways to crack it. There wasn’t much demand for millet-based products earlier, shares Sreejith Moolayil, co-founder & COO, True Elements. “The millet market wasn’t really ready for the big players, as there wasn’t much consumer interest.”

Consumer belief is at the core of Tata Soulfull’s ‘Taste first, health forward’ philosophy, according to Prashant Parameswaran, MD & CEO, Tata Soulfull. “While all our products come with the nutritional benefits of millets, our millet processing expertise also ensures that our products deliver better taste and texture, as compared to our non-millet competitors.”

Parameswaran further shares that the biggest learning for the brand has been that in order to make millets mainstream, they have to be brought to the consumer in modern and relevant formats. "Millets are popular in different parts of the country, so there’s a huge scope for localisation, in terms of products as well as brand messaging,” he adds.

Sanjeev Kotnala, founder, Intradia world, believes that ready-to-eat millet products like puffs, biscuits, chips etc., the taste will have to be the overriding factor and the health benefit support as that is the way to increase the net beyond just health-conscious audience.

Moolayil further elaborates that True Elements has been meticulous in engineering snacks that combine the nutrition rich benefits that millets bring in along with good taste.

"We are looking to introduce a millet based snack option in a market which has been dominated by non millet products. This is because the number of the people who will compromise on taste is less. So, if you look at products that are endorsed as being millet based, the average percentage of millets in those products is about 10 percent."

Moolayil mentions that his company is now developing products that taste good and are purely millet-based. “Once people start seeing that the product is 100% millet-based and tastes good as well, then the adoption will be much faster than what we’ve seen in all these years,” he opines.

Alagu Balaraman, CEO, DeepSell, talks about the change in the consumption habits of Indians. “The case of packaged curds, is an example. It had a slow adoption, but soon, the convenience and consistency of the product led to a huge shift in the market. So, to launch a new category, brands will initially have to induce trials, educate consumers on how to cook and consume millets, generate recipes that appeal to the Indian palate, and ensure consistent availability.”

Favorable markets for millet-based products

Moolayil explains that millet is an expensive ingredient comparatively because of the demand and supply factor. Cultivation of the crop is comparatively less, hence, cost is high.

“The consumer who is buying millets based products, is, let’s say, in Category A. This consumer wants to be healthy and can spend a little more on their food choices. We’d like to be more visible in Tier-I/II cities, where people know about millets,” he shares.

With the incentivisation that the government has introduced within the recent budget, he further believes that the costs of the crops would come down. Parameswaran believes that the first stage of building mass awareness involves making the products more affordable and accessible across the country.

“We’ve launched our (millet-based) products at the magic price points of Rs 10 and Rs 15. By leveraging the distribution network of Tata Consumer Products, we’ve ensured that the products are available in over four lakh retail outlets across the country," he adds.

For both the brands – Tata Soulfull and True Elements – developing children-oriented products is the best bet at the moment. These types of products are also focused upon by startup Slurrp Farm. 

Meghana Narayan, co-founder, Slurrp Farm, shares that the brand released two campaigns last year which focused on mothers, who like healthy snacks and breakfast options for their kids.

“‘Unjunk your breakfast, out with the maida, in with the better grain’ was the theme of one campaign. The second one focused on giving the power back to mothers, when it comes to their kids’ eating habits. So, our millet-based noodles are now an option for mothers and one that their kids can enjoy as well.”

Narayan elaborates about the category that has done well for her company – breakfast for kids. “Pancakes, dosas and cereals have done well for us. Then, there’s snacks. Healthy noodles have also done well for us, and we plan on expanding our reach with these products.” Slurrp Farm is planning to launch millet-based products for adults this year as well.

As far as traction goes, Narayan mentions that they have seen a lot of traction across the country, and not just in Tier-1 cities.

According to Sanjeev Kotnala, the D2C route is the best bet for brands to promote millet-based products. “I believe discovery and search in the digital arena would dominate the brand presence. Also, the communication aimed at nudging (one) towards trial, shouldn’t be serious, logic-based or health-conscious.”