ITC eyes 20% market share of frozen food segment in 3 years

ITC, which has recently made a foray into the frozen food segment under ITC Master Chef brand, is looking to garner up to 20 per cent of the Rs 7,400-crore frozen food market in India in next three years with the firm expanding its offering in the category.

The company is targeting both retail and food services players, is also planning to expand its reach to over 30 cities in the retail segment and 100 cities in food services segment during the period.

"Currently, the frozen foods market in India is about Rs 7,400 crore and it is growing at about 17 per cent annually...Our intention is to explode the category. We are doubling our volumes. Our growth rate is about 6-7 times the industry growth," said ITC Chief Executive - Frozen Snacks, Fruits and Vegetables Sachid Madan.

"We are in both (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) segments and we are beyond even chicken. In the categories in the market that we are present, we are aiming at 15-20 per cent share over the next three-odd years as we establish our distribution,” Madan said.

The company has introduced over 50 different frozen food products under ITC Master Chef brand. These include a variety of Indian flavours such as 'Mumbai Vada Pops', 'Rajmah ki Galauti', 'Chicken Galauti', 'Falafel Kebab', 'Achari Beetroot Kebab', among others.

Madan said, "These items are now available in 60 cities under the food service portfolio and 11 cities in retail outlets. In the next three years 60 will go to 100 and beyond and beyond and 11 will go to about 30."

To begin with, the company is looking at metros and urban areas for these products but these will also be made widely available to consumers and food services segment, including restaurants, cafes and pubs across India, including tier II and III cities, he added.

ITC has partnered with American firm OSI and is utilising the latter's manufacturing facilities in India to produce these items.