Approximately 1500 companies have gone into the food and beverages (F & B) segment in India and raised about $1.6 billion over the past five years, according to the latest numbers by Tracxn, a market intelligence provider for private company data.
The inflow in the F & B segment is strangely higher compared to the home, personal, and lifestyle categories, which saw about 600 new players enter the segment. However, direct-to-consumer brands in the health food space have managed to raise just about $100 million, despite most companies’ claiming that the sub segment will grow significantly post-covid.
Historically, the Indian consumer has strongly preferred taste-led snack categories such as potato chips, extruded snacks, chocolates, and cookies. Hence, it only makes sense to give consumers healthier options in these categories rather than expecting them to change their taste preferences suddenly to health bars and makhanas, “said Anish Basu Roy, founder of TagZ Foods, which is popular for its potato chips and has recently launched gourmet dips and premium bar snacks. For instance, health bars and makhanas accounted for a minuscule share of the Rs 80,000 crore healthy snacking segment in India last year, with sales of Rs. 97 crores and Rs. 150 crores each.