Britannia enters wellness food segment

Targeting the health-conscious consumers in urban areas, Britannia Industries has launched Vita Marie Honey Oats biscuits.

With this low-fat, cholesterol-free biscuit brand, the company enters the adult health and wellness food segment, which is worth Rs 5,000 crore and growing at 25 per cent per annum, according to Anuradha Narasimhan, category director (health and wellness), Britannia Industries Ltd.

She said it would be a healthier option for the health-conscious adults, especially women, as a tea time biscuit. The company expects a portion of the current consumers of its Marie brand to switch over to the product and would target the major cities as potential market.

The adult health and wellness category, which focuses on health and vitality of adults, has a higher growth rate when compared to the overall biscuit market in India, she said. The Rs 14,000-crore biscuit market in India is growing at 16 to 18 per cent per annum.

The company has also seen a shift of demand in biscuit segment, from glucose biscuits to small pack cookies, according to Narasimhan.

The market for glucose biscuits came down from 33 per cent to 23.4 per cent in recent past, while that for value pack cookies has grown from 14-15 per cent to around 25 per cent, since the buyers of glucose biscuits switched to the cookie segment.

Almost 90 per cent of the Rs 4,600 crore turnover of Britannia comes from from biscuit business. Of this, around 50 per cent is from the health and wellness products, according to Narasimhan.