Health foods yet to catch up in India

Local business daily reported last week that the multinational beverage maker PepsiCo had decided to shelve expansion plans for Pepsi Max, a low-calorie, sugar-free cola with a much stronger taste.

Touted as an alternative to Pepsi Cola and Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max was launched last year in August. At that time, PepsiCo had said that the product was targeted at the health-conscious consumers in the 25 to 35 years age group.

The cola was to initially be available in the capital city of New Delhi and its suburbs before being rolled out in other urban areas. However, as per the report in Economic Times, the company has decided to drop those plans.

Officials at PepsiCo did not comment on the report regarding Pepsi Max when contacted and did not give details whether the product would still be available in the areas it was already launched in.

However, a distributor in New Delhi, who requested anonymity as he is not allowed to talk to the media as per his agreement with the company, PepsiCo has stopped offering the product altogether.

Around the same time, India's largest biscuit maker Parle Products Ltd said that it too was withdrawing its baked chip brand Monaco Smart Chips, barely a year after its national launch. The company said that the consumers were still to warm up to healthier options and would not yet compromise on taste.

A marketing executive with a rival food manufacturer, that also has a brand of baked chips in the market, agreed with the aforementioned assessment and said that the Indian consumer is yet to evolve to Western levels in this regard.

“A consumer might compromise on the frequency of consumption, but not on taste. Though there is a general alarm over lifestyle diseases like obesity and diabetes, it seems the manufacturers are fretting more than the consumers,”​ she said.

According to her, in India, the eating habits have not evolved yet to western levels where the consumer is far more conscious of what he eats and almost always wants natural to eat and drink.

“In India, sugary juices still trail 100 per cent natural ones, and health drinks represent a very miniscule market share when compared to the cola giants and sugar free ice creams are almost unheard of,”​ she added.

At the same time, the executive said that the market will take at least a decade more to grow to such a state that food and beverage makers could spin sustainable businesses around health foods and drinks.