Rising health awareness amid the pandemic set to accelerate sale and visibility of premium salt segment: Tata Salt

Bengaluru: Edible salt market will be 100% branded in the next 4-5 years and the market for value-added salt category, accelerated by the pandemic, will gain a lot more visibility now, said Tata Consumer Products. The maker of the eponymous salt brand Tata Salt and market leader in the category estimates the salt market growing at 2-4% driven by increasing consumer awareness about health and quality. Currently, about 7% of the salt market is accounted by unbranded players.
“The desire to be healthy than just a tick mark on the checklist was the biggest trend this fiscal. There has been an actual shift than just talking the talk. Consumers are making more conscious choices,” Richa Arora, president, packaged foods - India at Tata Consumer Products, told ET.

The FMCG company, that also sells packaged tea, pulses, spices and ready-to-cook meals, registered 11% growth in revenue in its salt division and gained market share in the second quarter ended September. Consumer reports and data points studied over the last six months, overlapping with the pandemic, showed increase in market share for the company, it added.

“Currently we have 30% market share but we will be growing aggressively to seize share. We will enter new geographies and continue to focus on our value-added salt segment this year,” said Arora.

While Tata Salt, the country's first iodised salt brand, was launched close to four decades ago, the company later expanded the portfolio with premium or value-added salt such as fortified salt and low sodium variant and more recently natural products such as black salt and rock salt.

In the second quarter ended September, the company had registered 100% growth in value-added salt segment compared to the same period in 2019. In a follow-up analyst call, Tata Consumer had said that the company was looking to further expand the portfolio in salt to give variety to consumers and in turn increase margins.

“Consumers, especially youngsters, have become more health conscious amid the pandemic. Indian consumer is value-conscious but not price conscious,” said Arora, adding, “Premium salt segment is driving the image of the brand. There is a lot of room for growth within the segment. These are not passing trends.”

Premiumisation agenda will be percolating into the company’s overall food segment and not just salt in 2021, she hinted.

The market for packaged iodized salt in India is estimated to be worth about Rs 22 billion.

Other domestic brands include ITC’s Aashirvaad, Surya Salt, Nirma Shudh, Annapurna Salt and Saffola Salt.