Tourism & Hospitality | Wednesday 16 May, 2018 11:02 am |

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is on the verge of becoming a healthier nation if the year-on-year growth of the local health food segment continues unabated.

Key players in the largely considered niche market segment are optimistic that the industry will continue experiencing unsubdued growth mainly due to increased awareness on the benefits brought about by healthier food options.

A combination of government and private sector efforts in educating consumers about the risk factors related to unhealthy diets and the high prevalence rate of lifestyle diseases has also contributed significantly to the segment’s growth.

According to India Gate spokesperson, the industry’s unprecedented growth is a strong indication that consumers are now fully aware of the benefits. Availability and a widening variety of healthy food options have also encouraged many consumers to adjust their menus to now include a bigger portion of healthier food items.

“We are deeply encouraged by the growing number of consumers who are making critical lifestyle decisions by adopting healthy eating. The healthy food category has now ceased being an upper-class trend. We are now experiencing widespread adoption across the board as more consumers increasingly make decisions based on value-addition as opposed to price.” said Priyanka Mittal, director, KRBL Limited, makers of India Gate Quinoa.

India Gate is steadily making inroads into the regional health food segment following their debut in the UAE in 2017.

According to a survey conducted by ACNielsen, India Gate now command a 36 percent volume market share and has now assumed the leadership position in the region. 

Priyanka attributes India Gate’s growing popularity among UAE consumers to its strong relationship with its more than 4,000 retail points across the region where the brand sells approximately 2 million packs every year which translates into 4 packs of rice every minute.

 

 

Expansion into GCC

India Gate now has its eyes set on expanding into the GCC market citing strong consumer demand for its health food products.

Following its successful introduction of India Gate Quinoa and the subsequent launch of India Gate Classic and India Gate Super into the GCC region, the rice maker is now stepping up its efforts towards expanding its foothold in the region through expanding its portfolio to now include Chia Seeds, Flax seeds and Sprouted Brown Rice.

“Our goal has always been to introduce healthy food options to the GCC region. Using UAE as our gateway, we want to further expand our product offering in the GCC by giving consumers a wider choice of healthy foods. We are now in the final stages of finally introducing our sprouted rice brand to the GCC region. This will give the consumers an opportunity to enjoy some of its key benefits, which includes a calming effect thus, enhancing the sleep cycle and enhancing your memory function.” added Priyanka.  

Transitioning into healthy food

New product introductions will enable India Gate to strengthen its foothold in the niche retail market segment. India Gate is now targeting new channels like fitness centres, nutrition centres, high-end cafes, and healthy food joints as part of its expansion strategy.

“KRBL is committed to serve and cater to all segment of consumers. In addition to our market penetration strategy, we are also working towards introducing a premium variant, the NurJahan Premium Basmati rice across GCC region. This product will be mainly targeted towards the Asian expat consumer from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Africa regions.” noted Priyanka.

According to Priyanka, India Gate is in the process of making a transition from a rice maker into a wholesome food offering company. This, she said, will be done through strategic introductions of new products across its portfolio.