Literature Review

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Literature Review

The ready-to-eat (RTE) market in India, currently estimated at

Rs. 128 corer (2006) is expected to expand to reach Rs. 2,900
corer by 2015, according to an analysis done by Tata Strategic
Management Group (TSMG). In its analysis, TSMG said that
the factors contributing to the growth would be changes like
cold chain development, disintermediation, streamlining of
taxation, economies of scale on the supply side, coupled with
increasing disposable incomes, diminishing culinary skills and
the need for convenience on the demand side. The report also
highlights that the RTE market in India has remained underpenetrated owing to factors such as consumers penchant for
freshness, low affordability and the Indian housewifes
preference for home-cooked food.

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Cont

According to data in the reports, packaged foods in India have

grown at about seven per cent a year between 2000 and 2005,
with RTE foods being the fastest-growing, at a CAGR of 73 per
cent. The Indian RTE foods market, canned/preserved
segment is more popular, contributing about 90 per cent of the
market and growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate
(CAGR) of 63 per cent between 2001 and 2006 while the
chilled and dried ready meal segments are non-existent. There
is a huge untapped market opportunity arising due to rapid
demographic shifts in income, urbanization, and proportion of
urban working women in India.

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Cont

India provides an attractive opportunity for both Indian and

international players with a mix of demand and supply side
changes. If consumer demands of affordability, availability and
enhancing acceptability are met, the RTE foods market has the
potential market size of 2,900 corer by 2015 from its existing
Rs. 128 corer.

India has made lot of progress in agriculture & food sectors

since independence in terms of growth in output, yields and
processing. It has gone through a green revolution, a white
revolution, a yellow revolution and a blue revolute

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

In view of changing food and eating habits in India and its
implications on health and healthy eating among the consumers,
the key objectives of my study are:
a) To identify the key determinants of ready-to-eat/cook products
b) To study the growing demand of these products
c) To find out the major sources of attraction for these products

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Problem Statement of the Study

This study is exploratory and has some limitations that however

does not liquidate the purpose of study. Data obtained from the
convenience sample and literature reviews has been generalized
for inferring consumption & buying patterns of Indian consumers
(population).

Young & Middle age consumers in the age group of 20-40 from
Bangalore, Chennai, cochin, and Hyderabad, frequently visiting the
grocery & shopping malls are given questionnaire and interviewed
personally. The covered people may not represent the whole
population and most of them represent female genders. The cities
targeted also many not represent whole south Indian population.

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RESERCH METHODOLOGY

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Cont
Sampling method

The sample is selected by using Non Probability convenience

sampling method

Date Collection Instrument

Here we are using questionnaire method as a data collection

instrument

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Sampling Frame
Target Population

The population for this research study consists of the resident of Bhavnagar
City.

Sampling unit

In this study the Sampling unit is individual consumer.

Sample size

100

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Hypothesis Testing

H0: Pricing affect while purchasing Ready To Eat Food Products.

H1: Pricing does not affect while purchasing Ready To Eat Food
Products.

TEST STASTICES

Chi-Square Test =

(Fo-Fe)2
Fe
Where, Fo = Observed Frequency and Fe = Expected Frequency

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Hypothesis

Consumer use or consume ready to eat food products

Respondents
Yes

35

No

65

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Hypothesis

Consumer consume ready to eat food products in the future, if

the problems are solved

Respondents
Yes

52

No

18

Cant say

30

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Hypothesis
Improve efficiency

Male

Female

Total

Yes

17

18

35

No

27

38

65

Total

44

56

100

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X2 table for above distribution is given below

(Fo - Fe)

Observed
Frequency

Expected
Frequency

17

15.4

1.6

2.56

0.167

27

28.6

-1.6

2.56

0.190

18

19.6

-1.6

2.56

0.130

38

36.4

1.6

2.56

0.070

Total

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(Fo - Fe)2

(Fo - Fe)2/Fe

0.457

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Calculations

Chi-Square Test =

(Fo-Fe) 2
Fe

Where, FO = Observed Frequency and Fe = Expected Frequency

Degree of freedom = (r-1) (c-1)
= (2-1) (2-1)
= (1) (1)
=1

Calculated value = 0.457

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Calculations

At 0.05% of significance level,

Tabulated Value = 3.84

Calculated value (0.457) < tabulated value (3.84),

So Ho is accepted.

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FINDINGS

The important findings of the study are summarized and suitable

conclusions are explained below.

The brand awareness of consumers about Ready to eat food products

among different consumers revealed that, most of the respondents were
aware of MTR (96.00%), ITC (83.00%) and Satnam Overseas (67.00%)
brands.

Brand awareness of consumers about MTR among different age groups

showed

that, brand was very popular i.e. 96.00 per cent of respondents were aware,
followed by Ashirvad brand (93.00%) and Everest (87.00%).

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Cont

Brand awareness of consumers about ice creams among

different age groups showed that, majority of the respondents
were aware of Amul brand (99.00%), followed by Arun, MTR
and Nandini brands . Only a small percentage of the
respondents were aware of Dinshaws brand. All the
respondents were aware of Amul brand. In case of majority of
the respondents were aware of Amul and MTR brands.

Influence of media to create awareness about the brands in the

study area showed that in case of Ready to eat food products,
television was the major source for getting information about
the brands. This was followed by newspapers and
friends/relative

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LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Data obtained from the convenience sample and literature

reviews has been generalized for inferring purchasing patterns
of Indian consumers (population). The numbers may not totally
represent the whole section of the population because of
different backgrounds.

Although the study varies in male and female ratio and family
members and May not considered the collective opinion of the
family. Customers are surveyed in shopping malls and not in
Koriyama shops

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Cont

This study is exploratory and has some limitations that however

does not liquidate the purpose of study. Data obtained from the
convenience sample and literature reviews has been
generalized for inferring consumption & buying patterns of Indian
consumers (population).

Young & Middle age consumers in the age group of 20-40 from
Bangalore, Chennai, cochin, and Hyderabad, frequently visiting
the grocery & shopping malls are given questionnaire and
interviewed personally. The covered people may not represent
the whole population and most of them represent female
genders. The cities targeted also many not represent whole
south Indian population

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SUGGESTIONS

As awareness of RTE food is less, food companies should

increase their promotional activities.

Food companies should organize a food festival events in

different cities to attract new customers

Food companies concentrate more on nuclear family but along

with they should also concentrate on people who live alone.

Food companies should try to reduce the cost of RTE food.

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Cont

Though the demand for the ready-to-eat products is increasing in the

global market, the supply is still not satisfactory. So food companies
should increase their production capacity.

Quality is of paramount importance for the growth of the RTE foods

business in India. So each food company should concentrate on
quality improvement of RTE food.

Packaging is also important for RTE food to keep the food hygienic.
Food companies must follow the international norms for packaging.

Food companies should explore the new avenues for marketing and
distribution of RTE food.

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CONCLUSION

With the income level rising, demand for milk, meat or fish, fruits
and vegetables is also increasing in India. With more urbanization,
Indian families also consume more processed foods, more readyto-eat foods, etc. Asian Americans, now numbering over 10 million
along with the other 13 million persons of India origin spread all
over the world are a huge potential market for the RTE Foods out
of India. This creates a scope for the producers to come out with a
long range of dishes including the usual meals. India had been at
the forefront for variety of dishes both in domestic and global
market. Today the ready-to-eat products produced from India are
mostly on Basmati rice Pulao, Biryani, Dal, Channa, Rajma, Spicy
Vegetable Curry, Mushroom, Paneer, Chicken, Broccoli, Sweets
and many more South Indian dishes

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Cont

Food companies should increase the promotion of RTE food to

create awareness among people about the concept of RTE
food and convince customers about the misconception about
the added preservatives in RTE food.

There is great opportunity for Indian food companies to capture

Indian food market as well as food market of other countries.
Top food companies say the market is currently worth around
Rs 50 crore in India but they confidently predict it will grow to
around Rs 200 crore in the next one or two years. So there is a
great future for food companies of India.

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