Why do we love Maggi, and accept frozen fries, but are indifferent to the rest of the ready-to-cook products?

Ready-to-cook is a large category, further segmented into frozen and non-frozen snacks. Frozen snacks have players like McCain, Godrej Yummiez etc selling fries, tikkis etc, while non-frozen includes noodles, pasta, curry pastes, batters, momos, marinated seafood, meats, the list is endless.

The way I see it, the success of a ready-to-cook product depends on where it falls on the levers of 1) cost 2) effort to make the alternative 3) taste 4) perception of health and 5) Ability to rationalize guilt. Cost and effort are hygiene requirements in the ready-to-cook segment. It must overdeliver on some while offering parity to current alternatives on the rest.

In a country where food is rarely frozen and all meals are freshly prepared, frozen is an anathema for a homemaker. Food is her domain, one of the few things she exercises complete control over. Adopting ready-to-cook questions her ability. The barriers are stronger on main meal occasions, while snacks whose role is to lull any small hunger pangs enjoy some flexibility. You can find chips, biscuits, and pakoras safely nestled into this occasion.

With so many barriers why has the Indian homemaker accepted noodles? I believe it works because it caters to kids. Childhood involves a lot of activity and therefore hunger between meal occasions is common. This hunger must be satiated on time, or the mother is left dealing with a hangry child. Preparing fresh food from scratch requires time, cue: 2 min noodles.

Noodles are cost-effective, convenient, tasty, and allow you to rationalize your guilt, 4 out 5. How do mothers alleviate the guilt of maida-ridden food? They add some vegetables to make it healthy. Frozen fries reduce the guilt by reframing the context, instead of comparing to homemade fries or food, the comparison is always to restaurant fries. McCain talks about restaurant jaisa taste, ghar pe. By controlling the oil in which the fries are cooked, the mother makes it healthy giving her much-needed peace of mind.

For products that require only some time in the microwave, it becomes too easy. When cooking over a stove, steaming, or frying, there is more involvement and therefore feels like effort and allows a homemaker to manage her guilt. When Betty Crocker first launched complete cake mixes, where one had to only add water, they failed. They had to add one additional step, where the homemaker adds eggs. The additional step allowed consumers to get rid of their guilt and they adopted the product happily.

Microwave products can still work for students, and younger professionals away from home.

ID has been very successful with batters, which typically involve a lot of effort and pre-prep. To amp up health perceptions, communication centers around freshness and no preservatives. Ready-to-cook batter allows you to make tasty crispy dosas at home without most of the work. Although you can order in, you end up with soggy mush, further helping the case for the ready-to-cook batter.

What about other categories like curries? These sit in the main meal occasion. In India where the cost of labor is low, keeping a cook to make fresh food where you control the ingredients is cheaper. For occasional needs, one would rather order fresh meals from the restaurant or tiffin service provider.

While most brands have launched popular options like pasta, dal makhani, chole etc, for this occasion, I think the potential lies in launching high-labor or time-intensive recipes or gourmet meals. For example, slow-cooked over 12 hrs, or sushi, etc. The category will need to overdeliver on taste, effort, and cost-saving to overcome barriers of freshness and health in main meal occasions. Gourmet meals are also considered a treat and allow for space to maneuver around freshness and health concerns.

Another interesting approach I came across was fortified. A ready-to-cook soup, but the proposition is protein-rich. This over-delivers on the health perception and reduces guilt associated with using packaged products.

What are the brands talking about in the ready-to-cook category?

Tata Q was recently relaunched as Yumside, with a pasta ad that centers on taste. The story shows a cop waiting for the gangster to finish his pasta before he arrests him. The target group and the occasion are vague, whether deliberately or not I am unclear. Yu brand also focuses on taste but addresses the freshness concern by calling itself chef-crafted "fresh instant" food.

On the other hand, ITC MasterChef shows younger people cooking for social occasions, the key proposition is, it is so simple that "AbKoiBhiChef". Less effort or ease which is a given for the category. The MTR communication addresses some of the barriers by justifying the choice of ready-to-cook in the context of our busy lifestyle and compares it with ordering, instead of home meals.

Which ready-to-cook products have you adopted and why??