Study of attitudes and beliefs directed towards ready to eat food consumption and analyse current challenges faced in growth of RTE meals industry

Abstract

RTE foods are food items that have already gone through most or all of their preparation steps and ready to consume with or without pre-warming. In India, 3 categories are present which are- canned/preserved foods like curry, biryanis and frozen foods like ice cream, cut vegetables, fruits. The study was focused on RTE meals which are breakfast and lunch/ dinner items. The objective of the study was to study attitudes and beliefs directed towards RTE meals and preferences based on usage situations which can be used to position the product and communicated to the customers. The secondary data from sources like industry reports, internet, and news was analysed to understand the market scenario. Based on it, focused interview was conducted in field (hypermarket) targeting married couple and single people living away from home. The learning of the exploratory research was used to design survey questionnaire. The detailed survey data was analysed using descriptive statistics as well as factor analysis techniques. The main conclusions of this study are that both ready meal consuming respondents; married and single, to a greater or lesser extent, held negative beliefs about the characteristics of frequent ready meal consumption as they perceive taste, health and price of RTE meals negatively. The main usage situations resulted from the study are travel mostly going abroad followed by travel within India but in other state. The study suggests that the product should be positioned for Special occasion use like travel, emergency arrival of guests. Also it should be communicated that the product is suitable for Emergency stocking in situations like maid is on leave, no mood to go outside and alone. The recommendations to position the product, distribution and increase consumption were given. Considering RTE meals’ use in emergency situations, it should available in grocery stores from where people can buy immediately. The communication focus should be on usage situations like positioned as travel companion or emergency solution which will make customer aware about its use and will make decision making easy for him. To increase its consumption the price point should be lowered considering negative perception about price and taste as well. RTE meals if positioned well and offered in better 4P’s especially price and place have a great prospect in Indian market.