Fast-Moving Consumer Goods major Tata Consumer Products (TCP) is targeting 5 per cent sales from its new products by FY25.
The company has launched 70 new products since 2020. The share of these products in overall sales has gone up from 0.8 per cent in FY20 to 3.4 per cent in FY23.
TCP’s innovative products include Tata Salt Immuno; Tata Simply Better, a plant-based burger patty; Tata Gluco+; Tata GoFit, a plant-based protein powder; Himalayan Preserves; Himalayan Honey; and Tata Soulfull Masala Oats with millets.
“We streamlined our capabilities and infrastructure last year. In the Bangalore centre, we have some of our central functions, including research, Analytics, a sensory lab, and a packaging development centre. In Kharghar, there is a food innovation centre with development teams that handle the entire mandate for the food business. It caters to both Tata Sampann and ready-to-eat businesses. In Sri City, we have a centre for both food and beverage portfolios. We have 20,000 square feet of research and development facility to drive innovation,” said Vikas Gupta, Head of Global Research and Development at Tata Consumer Products
Tata Consumer Products also plans to expand healthy offerings among its product categories, including the reduction of sugar content in beverages and the fortification of salt.
“Health and wellness are relevant for the food and beverage industry, and organisations focused on innovation cannot stay away from it. In salt, we were the first to come up with a patented formula on double-fortified salt, and in some of our tea products, we are looking at functional benefits in it,” he said.
USE OF AI
The company is looking into leveraging AI to reduce innovation periods and adapt to changing consumer trends in FMCG.
“We are looking at how we leverage AI and the whole digital space. How do we digitize our innovation process and tracking governance mechanism in such a manner that we can churn out more projects in a shorter period of time? We are working with two global agencies on a pilot scale to spot early emerging trends,” added Vikas.