the product portfolio of gits food products pvt ltd, the readytocook pioneer that ventured into the market in 1963 with dehydrated soup mixes, now includes mixes of ingredients used to make various indian items, including idli, dosa and gulab jamun. gits moved on to bring traditional indian foods from halwais sweetmakers to bawarchis chefs to the home of the common man. the company now manufactures a whole range of indian snacks developed and perfected by rigorous inhouse research and development r&d.in an email interaction with anurag more, sahil gilani, the company&rsquos sales and marketing director, commented on the food retail business in india. excerptswhat is the size of the food retail business in india at what rate is it growingas per an indian brand equity foundation ibef report, the indian food industry is presently estimated to be worth approximately 135 billion, and growing at a compound annual growth rate cagr of 10 per cent.it is expected to touch 200 billion by 2015. the size of the processed foods market is rs 1,500 crore, out of which the size of the readytocook mix and heatandeat meal market size is about rs 600700 crore. it is expected to grow around 25 per cent.what is your share in the marketwe have a dominant market share in most states across india. we are also among the largest indian packaged food exporters with a presence in over 40 countries.tell us about the products offered by gits.we have three main product lines, namely readytocook instant mixes readytoeat ready meals, and dairy pure cow ghee.do you plan to launch any new products in the coming year provide us details about the same.yes. we are constantly looking to launch new products and variants.we firmly believe that unless we benchmark quality and taste in the category or product variant, we should not launch it.in the coming year, we would be looking to launch new products and variants in and around the readytoeat rte and readytocook rtc categories.what makes you different from your competitorsbeing a family business, we have a firm founding policy &lsquowe would not sell what we don&rsquot relish.&rsquogits products have always maintained the highest level of quality and safety by using the best natural ingredients.we are constantly upgrading our machinery and technology to ensure that we provide a long shelflife without the use of any preservatives.one of the many steps we take to towards our quality commitment is to procure the best available milk ourselves, after testing each batch.this has a direct impact on the milk powder used in our dessert mixes, the paneer used in our ready meals and our cow&rsquos ghee.what are the challenges faced in india by brands like gitsthe biggest challenge that we, and the category at large, faces is consumer perceptions and myths.consumers are unaware of such technologies as retort packaging, which ensure that the food is shelfstable at room temperature for a year without the use of preservatives.there is a lot of bad press around packaged food. however, awareness needs to be created that not all packaged food is unhealthy or harmful.how is the sector coping with the challengesall our communication media, including packaging, media and public relations, emphasise on our all natural and no preservative food.in fact, we have gone a step ahead and explained the retort technology and merits of sterilisation on our ready meal packaging. this gives consumers an insight into the cuttingedge technology we use.yet, there is a need for the sector to come together and spread awareness to break consumer myths.what trends are you currently observing in the sector, and what are the likely future trendsthere is a trend of consumers becoming more healthconscious, so brands like gits do benefit.we have always been a nopreservative brand. all our products are produced using the freshest and finest natural ingredients.how do multinational corporations mncs look at the indian marketmnc are very bullish about the indian market.they have pumped in a lot of money in the indian fastmoving consumer goods fmcg market over the years.as a result, several of the fmcg sectors are dominated by mnc brands.their marketing muscle has helped bring scale to several categories.however, mnc brands have not had much success in the packaged food category, which specifically caters to indian cuisine. consumers prefer indian brands for this category.hence several family businesseshomegrown indian packaged food brands have been bought by mnc to leverage on the brand&rsquos heritage, consumer loyalty and distribution network.do you have expansion plans could you throw some light on the samewe are modifying and upgrading our current factory and machinery on a regular basis to optimise production output and further enhance our quality benchmarks.our expansion plans are focussed on leveraging the gits brand in the readytocook rtc and readytoeat rte space.we are committed to grow the company with a longterm vision.hence, it is essential for us to maintain our core competence and not overleverage the brand.from a marketing perspective, with the yearend festivities and the new year round the corner, does gits have any specific plans or offers lined upthe consumption of ghee increases during the winter months. hence, we have planned offers that would give consumers a price benefit.we would be using social media to encourage consumers to celebrate christmas with a new twist by relishing indian desserts.at the start of the new year, we would be focussing on breakfast mixes, as several consumers make new year&rsquos resolutions to stay healthy.hence, we would be building health awareness about our breakfast mixes and roll out consumer offers too. 
