“Millet is going to be a part of ITC’s wide range of packaged food products, and it has started serving millet-based dishes in its chain of hotels in an effort to make them a mainstream cereal like wheat and rice,” said ITC chairman and managing director Sanjiv Puri.
This is part of the conglomerate’s “Mission Millet” strategy, which it will also implement as a branding effort on all products containing millets. The company will introduce millets as an additive or roll out 100% millet products across categories like snacks, confectionery, cereals, ready-to-eat range, biscuits, and instant noodles.
Puri said, “The potential is huge. Adding millets is an opportunity for 80% of the Rs. 5 lakh crores in addressable markets where ITC operates. It is a virgin territory right now, and it all depends on how players like us and start-ups create an ecosystem with government intervention. “It will progressively become mainstream and as interesting a cereal as rice and wheat.” Puri informed.
Hemant Malik, divisional chief executive of ITC’s foods business, stated that the company will offer millet-based products in both regular and premium price ranges. At present, most such products are sold in the premium or super-premium range. For instance, when we add millet to confectionery or snacks, there won’t be a change in the product pricing, but we will roll out a cookie made with 100% millet in the premium range. 2023 is the International Year of Millet. “We will export several of these products as well, since a huge potential lies internationally,” said Malik.
The company will develop farmer demonstrations and training on growing millets over 7,000 acres, and production will be aligned to the offtake as consumption builds up. It will take multiple initiatives to empower farmers, educate and encourage consumers by advertising these products, and develop them as tasty.
The foray into millets is part of the ITC Next strategy crafted by Puri, which is all about scaling up mega brands, driving penetration, building adjacencies, and investing in categories of the future.