Bangalore-based MTR Foods is cooking up plans to put more on the breakfast plate by introducing region-based cuisine. Its portfolio, at present, is limited to south Indian breakfast mixes such as dosas and idlis . Going forward, there will be more products targeting western States such as Maharashtra and Gujarat with items such as poha, besan chilla and dalia .

Sanjay Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, MTR Foods said, “We are looking at breakfast mixes beyond idlis and dosas . We are planning to have food relevant to a region and there could be more regional specialities in the future.’’

Considering that Britannia has not made much headway with its breakfast mixes, MTR believes that this segment is still waiting to be tapped with more region-specific offerings. “Taste is crucial when there are regional specialities. Today, most of our competitors are regional players,” added Sharma.

The company has recently launched multigrain breakfast mixes at a 25 per cent premium to its existing breakfast mixes.

Breakfast mixes is a Rs 120-crore category, while the entire breakfast category is estimated at Rs 800 crore. We expect to innovate and have more products in this segment and have been repositioning the MTR brand in the past three years to get into the breakfast space, Sharma said.

MTR Foods currently reaches out to 1.4 lakh outlets and the company expects to take this up to 2.5 lakh in the next two years.

Focusing on three main categories today (spices, ready mixes and snacks), MTR is not letting go of its existing categories such as ready-to-eat as it continues to be a market leader in that segment. “Ready-to-eat is still a Rs 60-crore category, and with a 52 per cent share in the category, we are not going to exit it,’’ added Sharma. The company has been growing at CAGR of 25 per cent.

> Purvita@thehindu.co.in

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