Tata Consumer Adds Honey, Jams To Food Portfolio Under Himalayan Brand

Tata Consumer Products Ltd. has ventured into new categories like honey and fruit jams as packaged food takes prime spot in its growth strategy.

The products will be launched under the premium water brand Himalayan, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

"Himalayan is a brand with great equity in the minds of consumers and we thought we could transcend water to get into newer categories," said Vikram Grover, managing director of NourishCo Beverages Ltd., the wholly-owned beverage arm of Tata Consumer Products.

Extensions of fast-moving consumer goods brands are five times more successful than launching new brands in India, according to research firm Nielsen. This can result in incremental sales of up to 38% and contribute as much as 30% to parent brand sales.

Tata Consumer's brand extension comes after the Himalayan reached breakeven at an EBIT level for the first time since inception in FY22.

Piggybacking on the Himalayan brand is also aimed at growing its share of the wallet, which is currently far lower than the strength of the brand, said Grover. Plans are afoot to widen its beverage portfolio under the Himalayan brand.

Apart from brand recall, Tata Consumer Products will leverage NourishCo's strong network to distribute the new launches. The products will be available at select premium stores nationally, it said.

"We have grown our direct access to the premium outlets in the country over the last two years and we will start by distributing these products in the top nine cities," said Grover. The products will be available online as well.

The move to expand is in line with the company's strategy of building a "future-ready" portfolio to grab a bigger slice of the packaged food market. Recently, Tata Consumer Products forayed into the masala oats segment.

Focus On Premium Offerings

Tata Consumer Products seeks to chase growth with margin-accretive premium offerings. "There is huge headroom for growth in the premium end of these categories, which is still in its nascent stage and is heavily dominated by imported brands," said Grover.

As normalcy sets in after pandemic-led disruptions, the sale of premium categories in the fast-moving consumer goods sector is also gaining traction, prompting manufacturers to step up premiumization.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd., for instance, has seen its premium portfolio grow at twice the pace as the rest of its portfolio in 2021-22. That's significant as the country's largest packaged consumer goods company has for years driven household consumption in India selling mass-market brands such as Sunsilk, Vim cleaning bars and Lux soaps.

Others like Dabur India Ltd., Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., and Marico Ltd. have also seen their premium portfolio remain unaffected, even as mass products struggled in 2021-22.

The New Products

Both these new product offerings are being sourced from the Himalayan belt.

Himalayan Preserves, according to the company, are handmade in small batches using Himalayan-origin fruits and sourced from partners committed to helping local communities.

The preserves would be available in five flavours—strawberry, apricot, black cherry, apple cinnamon and three-fruit marmalade with no added flavours or preservatives.

Himalayan Honey is being sourced from ‘Pahaadi Utpadd’, a Tata Trust associate organisation that works on promoting traditional bee-keeping methods to develop an unadulterated mountain honey value chain, the company said.

The new range of Himalayan Honey will be priced at Rs 300 for 250 gm, while the preserves are priced at Rs 425 for 450 gm.