CONCEPT

• Ready to Eat Meals like already cooked or prepared lunch & dinner are relatively new products which came in market only a few years back and are now sold through retail general stores in especially made sealed aluminum laminates.

• The retorting or sterilization process ensures the stability of the Ready-to-Eat foods in retort pouches, on the shelf and at room temperature. The application of sterilization technology completely destroys all potentially harmful micro-organisms, thereby making sure that the food product has a very long shelf life of over 12 months and needed no refrigeration.

• When customer needs to eat, the food item pouch is either put in microwave oven to warm it or keep in heated water for a few minutes and then serve to eat.

• Such ready to eat meals have been especially given to soldiers in army of many countries who require carrying their rations while on war front or while located far away from their main unit. • The advertisements like, "Hungry Kyaa" are adding zest to the market by popularizing such food items which are pre-cooked and free from any preservative, and yet have a long shelf life of over 12-months.

WHY READY TO EAT FOOD ?? Globalization of Indian food and its culture are the core factors for popularization of ready to eat foods. ?? Main motivation for these ready to eat foods is fast growing foreign market. ?? Retail outlet culture is now growing rapidly in India. ?? Shelf life of these foods are at least 12-18 months. ?? Quality, Taste and Flavor of these foods remains as good as fresh up to the expiry date. ?? Women wanting to spend more time out of the kitchen. ?? More working bachelors staying away from homes.

?? Cost effective in comparison to the Indian cuisine served by the restaurants in foreign countries

TYPES OF READY TO EAT FOOD Veg Food Non Veg Food Alloo Matar Chicken Curry Palak paneer Butter Chicken Sarso Ka Saag Karahi Chicken Chana Masala Mughalai Chicken Kadi Pakora Mutton Masala Cheese Tomato Mutton Korma Dal Makhani Karahi Mutton Rajma Masala Mutton Biryani

Deserts Gajar Ka Haluaa / Sugi Ka Haluaa / Milk Kheer

MARKET & ITS GROWTH ?? The popularity of ready to eat packed food now no longer marks a special occasion. People want value for time, money in terms of quality and variety.

?? The food processing industry is one of the largest industries in India and it ranks fifth in terms of Production, Consumption, Export & Expected growth.

?? Processed food market in India accounts for 32% that is 29.4 billion US $ in a total estimated market of 91.66 US $.

?? Euro monitor International, a market research company says that amount of money India spend on ready to eat snacks & food is 5 billion US $ in a year while on abroad Indian or Indian subcontinents spend 30 billion US $ in a year.

?? Ready to eat packaged food industry is over 1 billion US $ and it is growing at the rate of 20 % per annum.

?? Ready to eat food market is developing specifically in UK, USA, Canada, Gulf & South Asian Countries with the growth rate of over 150 % per annum.

●MAGGI NOODLES●AMUL●KNOUR SOUPS●HALDIRAMS

●Nestle India Limited is the market leader in Indian Noodle Market with it’s MaggiBrand of Noodles which was pioneer brand launched in 1983 in the packaged foodmarket of India. It took the challenge and established Maggi in Indian marketconsidered to be conservative and typical about food consumption.

● Its appropriate realization of target segment, effective positioning and effective promotion and sales made Maggi to Noodles in India as Xerox it to photocopier.

● NIL had introduced sauces, ketchups and soups under Maggi brand to reap benefit of brand popularity and image and contribute to financial gains by 1990.Maggi also became successful in sauces, ketchups and soups Market in India.

● In 2005 Maggi brand worth was 3.7 billion from 1.7 billion market worth in 2003. Maggi Noodle is Market leader with around 80% market share in Noodles/Pasta and Maggi Sauce is market leader with almost 37% of market share in 2005. Knorr has taken over Maggi in Soup market recently.

● In 2005 Maggi was the highest spender in the Promotion and Sales in the Indian Market in the Noodles Category.

Maggi is competing with Heinz Sauces and Ketchup, Knorr Soups, Kissan Sauces and Ketchup, Top Ramen, Sunfeast Pasta, etc.

Maggi Noodles is the market leader with 80 % market share in NoodlesMarket .Maggi Sauces and Ketchup is leader with 37 % market share. Theproducts are producing cash for the company consistently. The Market is growing by15 % in the Product Category of Noodles

●Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is India's largest food products marketing organization. Apart from being known for its dairy products, Amul has ventured into the ready-to-eat industry and includes Processed Cheese, Pure Ghee, Shrikhand, Nutramul and Mithaee Gulab Jamuns among its offerings.

C. H. Knorr builds a factory in Heilbronn for the purpose of drying and grinding chicory for the coffee trade.With the spread of industrialization, C. H. Knorr realizes the need for a quickly prepared and nutritious meal among factory workers.He starts experimenting with drying vegetables and flavourful seasonings. In cooperation with nutritional experts, he develops a preservation process to maintain the natural values of the ingredients and their flavours and also reduce their cooking times. This knowledge is the basis for the development of the dried soups.

KNORR products were sold in 87 countries around the world.In October, Unilever became the new owner of the KNORR brand.

In the late months of 2002, Knorr entered the Frozen foods sector, with the introduction of frozen meals, mealkits, vegetable products and snacks.

●The traditional Indian Sweet-Maker from a small set up has transformed into a full fledged processing food industry and taking its wares beyond the domestic frontiers to the Western World. Offers packaged Bhel puri chats such as Sev Puri, Chana Masala, Samosa, Pakoras, Alu Tikki, Pao Bhaji, Gol Gappa, Dhokla among others

● it saves time..● Besides time, cost saving gives readymade food

an edge over the meal prepared in the kitchen. ● Fast food does raise health concerns. However, if

careful, you can find some options on the menu of a fast food restaurant that could be healthier. You could always resort to the 'make to order' option that certain fast food outlets offer, where you could restrict the use of ingredients that are not healthy.

●adverse effect that it has on one's health. Fast food is an important contributor to obesity in the American population.

●Obesity in children is on the rise and a direct link is being cited between fast food and obesity in children.

● In fact, a recent study has shown that people who live within walking distance of a fast food restaurant are at 13% higher risk of suffering from strokes than those who live a considerable distance away.