Indian packaged food market to be double in 5-10 yrs to $70 bn

New Delhi: The Indian packaged food market is expected to be double and grow up to $70 billion in the next 5-10 years, led by factors that include economic growth, demographic dividend and growing e-commerce, said Nestlé India Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan on Friday.

The company is also waiting for the government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the food processing sector, which would be a good step for the industry that has the best ratio of capital investment and employment generation. "I am a firm believer of the consumption story of this country," said Narayanan while addressing a virtual media roundtable. Surveys conducted by all major agencies suggest the packaged goods market double in the next 5-10 years, he added. "The market today is worth $35 billion and we are expecting it to go to $ 70 billion," said Narayanan while adding that because of the pandemic, there could be some delay in that but "cannot be denied also".

There are factors such as 'demographic dividends' and 'economic reasons', which would help the food processing industry with a digital push. "If you look at the aspiring class, the affordable class and the wealthy into the country, research after research is showing that between 2018 and 2030, we are going to add almost 140 million households to the aspiring and to the affluent class," he said. He also added that the bottom of the pyramid, those who are the deprived, is going to shrink. This clearly means that there is going to be an increasing proclivity towards the consumption of packaged goods and also of branded goods, Narayanan added.

"It is also interesting to note that the component of Generation-Z, which is the generation coming into the workforce, is almost going to be 25-30 per cent of the population," he said. Narayanan also added that the digital connectivity and digital pace of India are truly meteoric. Today, India has about 140 million consumers who are in the e-commerce space and is expected to be almost triple in the next 5-10 years. Total people accessing the internet, which is about 600-650 million, is expected to be a billion people, he added.