ITC to Roll Out Fresh Packaged Food Range Through Online Platform

ITC Group plans to launch a number of packaged foods with a focus on freshness. From cookies and cakes to chutneys and namkeens, it will be accessing its food-tech platform as it sharpens its push into premium items. Through its food-tech cloud kitchens, the corporation is quietly establishing a portfolio of shorter shelf-life items and feeding them into the market via e-commerce platforms.

The programme is presently being implemented in Bengaluru, home to ITC’s food and food-tech platform. Hemant Malik, executive director of ITC and head of the company's foods and personal care divisions, stated that the fresh packaged food products variety will be gradually expanded and that the rollout will be in line with the company's food-tech expanding footprint.

ITC Adding Unique Food Range in FMCG Domain: Malik

Malik noted that ITC's new fresh food line is distinctive in the FMCG sector. He noted that the business has been able to deliver unique services in this field, leveraging the cloud kitchen ecosystem that it has established in the last few years. According to Malik, the group's cloud kitchen team creates the dishes before distributing them via e-commerce sites like Blinkit and Swiggy. In an integrated hub-and-spoke approach, these cloud kitchens function as mini factories.

How does the shelf life of the new fresh variety stand up against the previous packed offerings? In contrast to typical packaged cookies, which have a shelf life of six to nine months, Sunfeast Baked Creations offers six cookies in its fresher line that have a 40-day shelf life. For a while now, ITC has made premiumization a top strategic priority. For the corporation, the category represents an opportunity to extend its premium offering. With customers exhibiting a greater readiness to pay for premium services, the demand momentum is certainly rising in this area, Malik remarked.

How ITC is Executing its New Business?

Currently, all of these products are being evaluated in Bengaluru and are exclusively available on quick commerce platforms. Malik reported that the response from consumers has been positive. Tamarind and pudina chutneys, sambar, and namkeens may be the next items to be added to the list. With a six-day shelf life, Aashirvaad chapatis are already accessible in a few Southern states and will gradually be extended to other regions. ITC cloud kitchens have been using the ready-to-cook chapatis, which are kept in ambient settings. In the meantime, the food-tech platform has expanded to more than 68 cloud kitchens in five cities: Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Pune.

Four ITC brands—ITC Master Chef Creations, Aashirvaad Soul Creations, Sunfeast Baked Creations, and Sansho by ITC Master Chef—offer a variety of cuisines. The latest plan for fresher products mirrors ITC’s larger approach of building on institutional strengths while tapping into synergies across its industries.

The food-tech company, in particular, is a convergence of these assets, combining the hotel industry’s culinary skills with the brands and production capabilities of the foods division to produce scalable solutions. The fresher range is now being developed by utilising the expertise of food technology. Malik observed that there is certainly a growing customer demand for fresher items. Nevertheless, the segment's primary participants are primarily local bakeries and regional brands, the majority of which operate at mass price points.