March 18, 2021
It’s not very shocking to know that Rice and Wheat are getting a run for their amiability from alternative flour categories. So if we see the flour category in the grocery section of Amazon, jackfruit flour brand Jackfruit 365 was at number three spot, behind Aashirvaad Atta and Vedaka Atta.
As a matter of fact just look at any grocery shelf today and there are innumerable variety of flours from ragi, amaranth, millet, oats, buckwheat, and multigrain flours infused with beetroot powder. In some niche stores, you will even find coconut flour, banana flour, and almond flour. Globally, cauliflower flour is a big new trend.
The daily grain in India – which for the longest time was rice and wheat – has suddenly got floured by competition. Start-ups offering alternative flours or fortified flours have found so much success that big brands like Aashirvaad are adding multigrain mixes to their portfolio.
And now oats flour enters the race and there is no food space oats hasn’t found itself in; in fact, oats has the prospective to be the third grain of India after rice and wheat.
As per a recent study, the oat flour segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5 percent projected to reach $2970.5 million by 2026.
Then there are millet flour (jowar, ragi, and foxtail), oats flour, amaranth flour and red rice flour that are treated with vegetable powders like beetroot or spinach for example in pancake and dosa mixes.
The reason alternative flours are in demand, is that people are beginning to realize that food is medicine. The diversity in flours comes from our grandparents’ times and now people want to bring that back on their plates.
Talk to nutritionists, and the start-up founders and the foremost reason for the alternative grains to accelerate and flourish – especially during the pandemic – is health.
Interest in alternative flour is driven due to diabetes and gluten intolerance. Both rice and wheat being refined simple carbs are high in glycemic index. In addition more and more people are becoming allergic to wheat.
Then for the weight watchers there is growing interest in exotic alternatives like cauliflower. A hundred grams of rice or wheat has nearly 250 calories while cauliflower rice which is on many healthy menus these days would have a fraction of that.
The other factor for these alternative flours to take off is that processing technology has improved and it’s easier to manufacture flours that can be easily used in dishes. From baking to brewing they can be used.