Understanding what consumers want has been the holy grail for innovators across industries for decades. In the U.S. and other countries, products like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods demonstrated that a huge and viable market exists for burgers made from plants for people who love their meat. In the U.S. consumers love their burgers and eat three a week, but in India could a similar case be made for our biryanis (which we consume at the rate of 1.6 every second as per Swiggy data from 2019)? The key in India to understanding consumer behaviour is to look at what they buy and how they act rather than what they profess to do in market research. This is because the large swathe of flexitarians in India are guilty non-vegetarians and so far we have not had concrete data points about this cohort to help formulate precise products for them. Indians are not a homogenous consumer group either; our cuisine varies every 100 kilometres. On this episode of Feeding 10 Billion, GFI India’s Corporate Engagement Specialist Dhruvi Narsaria and our Market & Consumer Insights Specialist Rajyalakshmi G, tell us about the important cues for consumer insight and what need-states innovators need to cater to, when they develop alternative protein products in India.

NOTES

Companies Mentioned:

Beyond Meat

Impossible Foods

NX-Food

Bibliography:

Study from Penn State University that confirms the first wave of products are meant for meat-eaters

EAT Lancet Report on how we can feed a future population of 10 billion people a healthy diet within planetary boundaries?

Our annual per capita meat consumption as per the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

73 Percent of Urban Rich Indians are Protein Deficient: 11 High-Protein Foods, NDTV

In 2019, Indians ordered 95 biryanis per minute from Swiggy: Report: Livemint

From meat and fish to vegetables: These 9 charts show how India eats, Hindustan Times

Mintel: Tackling the sedentary lifestyle: 64% of Indians say they don't exercise.

A Survey of Consumer Perceptions of Plant-Based and Clean Meat in the USA, India, and China in the Frontiers Sustainability in Food Systems Journal

IPSOS study on today's views that will shape tomorrow's food

BCG Turn the Tide Consumer Report

Lokniti-CSDS-KAS Survey: Mind of the youth, Indian Express

For Further Reading:
Plant Protein: An Indian Consumer Perspective - by Dhruvi Narsaria at the Future of Protein Summit 2019

Feeding 10 Billion, Season 1 Episode 1: Inside the Revolution

You can follow Dhruvi Narsaria @dhruvi.narsaria on Instagram and @dhruvinarsaria on Linkedin

& Rajyalakshmi G on Linkedin 

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