It has been almost 6 months since the COVID 19 virus hit countries around the world including INDIA and disrupted lives and uprooted many a businesses and carnaged through a lot of industries making them incumbent.
Everyone the world over is still reeling from the effects and aftereffects of COVID 19 and it has been a mammoth task for food industries across the world to get back on their feet and get up and running.
FMCG Market
The FMCG market dynamics have changed drastically over the past few months with all the brands vying for the “immunity building food space” which was not so crowded not so long ago. All types of natural powders, tablets, supplements and energy bars have cropped up in the market with the sole purpose of “immunity building”/ There are both advantages as well as disadvantages associated with hit.
Advantages/Disadvantages
The advantage is that consumers now have a wide variety of brands and products to choose from, a lot of Indian people are focussing and trusting India’s most ancient form of medicine — AYURVEDA. There has been a huge demand of Ayurveda products and the Indian ministry of AYUSH has been spearheading and actively supporting companies by expediting their approvals for putting new Ayurvedic drugs, supplements and medicines in the market. The one major disadvantage would be that a large chunk of the population still needs to be educated about the uses and benefits of individual Ayurvedic herbs so that there in increased awareness in general which would help make the consumers an informed decision.
INNOVATION
On a B2B scale, for food companies the focus for innovation should be on making ultra-hygienic products, ready-to-eat, convenience foods which can be carried everywhere. Specifically, focus should be on a combination of energy giving and immunity building. The challenges could be on incorporating the taste factor and overall acceptability of the product because of that sole reason. Another important factor on which innovation needs to be focussed is on the packaging of the food products. Self-sanitising options, if developed, would be a great assed and would significantly enhance the uniqueness of the product.
Overall, be ready and prepared to view drastic changes in the processed food industry on a B2B and B2C level which would in turn, hopefully be a game changer for the big as well as small and mid-sized food processing firms all across the country.