Latest news with #Agrawalla
Hindustan Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Comfort, convenience drive ready-to-cook food market
In his consumer research in the past two years, Akash Agrawalla, co-founder of spices company ZOFF Foods, discovered that people are keen to compress their cooking time. Working women rushing to their jobs, homemakers keen to savour experiences other than gastronomy and men who turned home chefs during covid lockdowns – all want home-cooked meals but seek convenience in food preparation. Comfort, convenience drive ready-to-cook food market This prodded Agrawalla to join the growing number of big and small companies making ready-to-cook (RTC) food products. Last month, he launched gravies and marinades in partnership with Reliance Retail. 'Convenience is addictive. Look at the success of quick-commerce services. Likewise, RTC foods, which simplify cooking, will grow sharply over the next 5-10 years,' Agrawalla said. A proprietary survey by Fireside Ventures shows RTC product volumes have doubled in the last two years, driven by batters and semi-prepared meals. A June FMCG Pulse study by Kantar reflects similar data. The ready-to-cook (RTC) mixes doubled in volume in the last two years, adding 18 million new households in the period, it said. Category growth was led by batters and mixes. RTC curries added six lakh households in the same period. Batters are fastest growing 'as they give you a dish on the table which is closest to what you would make fresh. It has the taste of home-made food and offers convenience,' observed food scientist Rinka Banerjee, founder of Thinking Forks. She expects expansion of the batter category with the likes of 'chilla' batter (made of gram flour or split green gram) entering the fray. Kantar study said that while RTC grew, the Ready-to-Eat segment – served directly after heating -- lost volume. Ready-to-Eat is losing out to fresh food delivery from restaurants and cloud kitchens, Banerjee said. 'Why would I buy packaged palak paneer or dal makhani when I can get it fresh on the delivery platform in 30 minutes,' she said. Adarsh Menon, partner at Fireside Ventures agreed that consumers like to be involved in the cooking process building a case for RTC. 'Traditional home-cooking is still big but the affluent urban consumers are becoming time poor, hence, seeking ease of cooking. We are very bullish on the entire RTC category,' Menon said. To be sure, RTC products are not new to India with several brands selling ginger pastes and idli-dosa mixes for close to 20 years. Yet the category lacked sizzle. That is beginning to change. 'RTC is poised to take off pushed by more women joining the workforce and our large millennial and GenZ population looking to cook smarter,' said Banerjee. With Indians experimenting with food, they're lapping up RTC aids for dishes from, say, Chettinad to Kolhapur, Banerjee said. 'Besides, there's growing demand for preservative-free, cleaner labels which has been a deterrent for the category in the past,' Banerjee said. Emergence of quick-commerce as a distribution channel has also become an enabler for category growth. 'For RTC, the stars are aligned. The consumer is ready, the channel is established and food companies are giving what people want, that is, healthy and clean RTC products,' Menon said. People want millet batters, high protein breakfasts and low oil curries and are willing to pay a premium for it, he added. Banerjee spots a bigger opportunity for RTC in frozen foods which have ventured beyond the routine snacks like fries to gourmet foods. Meat and seafood brand TenderCuts agreed that the RTC meals market is going through a transformation with customers seeking restaurant-like starters and gravies at home, without compromising on quality, hygiene or freshness of meats. It offers premium, preservative-free, all-natural marinated meats and plans to introduce fusion recipes designed for kids, and high-protein combos for fitness enthusiasts, the company said. Among emerging subcategories in RTC, Fireside Ventures expects proliferation of pre-cut ingredients, marinated proteins, global and regional meal kits, and frozen semi-cooked bundles—all designed to shave off preparation time while preserving the home-cooking experience. In the next three years, Fireside Ventures expects the RTC market to double and RTC products to become a mainstream pantry staple in urban kitchens. It is banking on urban consumers to start using RTC daily rather than weekly, with an increase in rural penetration as cold chains and price points improve. Agrawalla said he expects his pocket-friendly gravies to become a regular habit with Indian consumers as they speed up their homestyle cooking.
BBC News
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'I turned my cochlear implant into a fashion accessory'
"I don't think disability should be hidden. It's not about the style - it's about purpose and amplifying hidden voices."Gargi Agrawalla, who was born profoundly deaf, wants to empower other deaf young people after winning an international competition to design jewellery for use with cochlear implants and hearing Loughborough University student's winning Junkyard Dog Flower design has now been made into jewellery by award-winning creators Deafmetal and is being sold in aid of charity Auditory Verbal UK."It's about turning something magical into something expressive and stylish, helping wearers feel more confident and proud of their identity," she said. Ms Agrawalla, who has had a cochlear implant since the age of 12, said the device transformed her life but it was "really hard" catching up with communications skills."It was extremely difficult to be able to integrate with the hearing world, to be able to communicate with a lot of people because I only had my parents and very few people, like speech therapists, maybe one or two good friends who are understanding enough. "I was bullied growing up. So, it was really hard to be integrated with the society in general," she said. She said she was inspired by Love Island's first deaf contestant Tasha Ghouri and Jenni Ahtiainen, who founded Deafmetal, a jewellery brand for hearing Agrawalla said turning hearing devices into fashion pieces "empowers thousands and thousands of deaf people all over the world"."For the competition... I used the theme, Junkyard Dog Flower. It's basically a symbol of resilience, wrapped in delicate beauty because that's what living with deafness feels like."You grow through the rough and then you bloom anyway. So, that's how I view the deaf community," she said. 'Source of strength' Ms Agrawalla said she wanted to raise money for Auditory Verbal UK, so other children do not have to struggle like she did."They empower deaf babies and children to develop listening and spoken language through early intervention and auditory verbal therapy," she said."I believe every child deserves the opportunity to thrive."She said she also aimed to "bridge the gap between design and disability to create products, platforms, and inclusive spaces". "I want to keep designing, advocating... to empower other young people, especially those with hidden disabilities, to take pride in their identity and use it as a source of creativity and strength."
