Varun Berry, Managing Director, Britannia, is impressed by the way Bengaluru-based start-up iD has managed to diversify into staples such as parottas and chappatis . Inspired by iD’s success, the market leader in premium biscuits may enter the segment soon with its own brand of chappattis .

“Since consumers are seeking convenience we might look at adding value in a category like chappatis . There will certainly be a play in this category from our company. It is no longer a distant dream,’’ said Berry during a chat show hosted by Future Consumer Enterprise for the launch of its private food brands.

Taking the example of iD, short for Idli, the managing director hopes to drive convenience into his products like the way the idli-dosa batter making company had achieved in Bengaluru with chappatis . “iD has recently entered the chappati category and just like them we are looking at removing the barriers to a category like chappatis ,’’ he added.

Considering that Britannia already has a presence in bread, a category which has a limited shelf life, an extension into the ‘desi’ bread, or chappattis category, will not be difficult.

But there are complexities in creating a feasible business model in this category, considering that even a biggie like HUL withdrew its Annapurna brand of chappatis after test marketing them in certain places such as Navi Mumbai.

Britannia’s nearest competitor Parle is also said to be interested in entering the segment. “We had thoughts about entering chappatis as we had Parle G atta, but Indian consumers prefer fresh food when it comes to a category like chappatis unlike biscuits which is a ready-to-eat product,’’ said Praveen Kulkarni, Marketing Manager, Parle Products.

Chappatis are not considered ready-to-eat product in the Indian market. “HUL’s Annapurna did attempt but it is not an easy category since it requires skill sets which are difficult to substitute by even the big companies,” said Jagdeep Kapoor, Managing Director, Samsika Marketing Consultants.

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