History of breakfast and its future in India
Today, as soon as we are ready for office or school, the first thing our mind expects is breakfast. But it wasn’t always like that. The journey of inclusion of the most important meal of the day in our daily routine was not an easy one.
Up until the 14th century, consuming an early meal in the morning was considered a sin by many (the name literally means breaking the overnight fast). Meals in those days consisted of dinner (then eaten at midday as the main meal) followed by a supper at night.
Then, some exceptions were created along with the creation of the concept of employment. Workers who used to toil for the entire day were allowed a little morning snack. As were the elderly, children and, the infirm. So, to a great extent, we have the usual 9–5 to thank for invention of breakfast.
Through the expeditions of the new world, Europe found chocolate, tea, and coffee. Europe’s social elites were so addicted to these drinks (and to chocolate in particular) that in 1662, Cardinal Francis Maria Brancaccio declared that “Liquidum nonfrangit jejunum” meaning “Liquid doesn’t break the fast”.
With the rise of the industrial revolution in the 1900s, breakfast strengthened its position as a necessity and as a full-fledged social event. Rich Victorians started gathering at breakfast before scattering for their chores for the day. This is when the breakfast table and the tradition of newspaper and coffee in the morning was born. This was also the time when Sylvester Graham gave us crackers and John Harvey Kellogg (yes, the reason behind today’s Kellogg’s) gave the breakfast cereal.
These items became popular immediately as they can be directly poured into bowls, no cooking required. And so, the commercialization of ready-to-eat breakfast items began, which was further strengthened by the advent of toasters and waffle irons.
Fast forward today, hectic lifestyles, coupled with convenience and economy, have boosted the sales volumes of ready to eat food products globally. The global ready to eat food product market is estimated at $183.01 billion in 2020 with a growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% till 2027. The Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing segment in this regard.
However, India is a tough nut to crack in this regard. The global behemoths like Kellogg’s and Pepsico (Quaker oats) have found it difficult to grow in India. In most western countries, the majority of breakfast tables have standard items like milk/juice/coffee, breakfast cereals, eggs, and bacon, etc. But, as with all the other things in India, there is no one size fits all strategy that can be relied upon. There are two major challenges which I see:
First, many Indians still do not religiously have breakfast as part of their daily meal plan. They prefer light early morning snacks followed by a filling meal before leaving their homes (for office or school) and a meal after returning to home.
Second, the presence of traditional snacking items like samosas, dhoklas, and vada pavs (the list is practically endless), which make for a decent grab, and go meal along with the love of Indians for their chai-biscuit.
In fact, the market size for biscuits in India is expected to be around INR 45000 crores in FY 21 as against INR 1500–2000 crores for breakfast cereals.
However, brands are taking cognizance of these facts and are trying to address the intermingled segment of breakfast and snacking by introducing localized ready to cook & ready to eat packaged nashtas. Top FMCG firms including MTR, ITC, Nestle, Gits, and Mother’s recipe have introduced such ‘nashta’ products last year and last month, Kellogg’s has also joined the party by launching packaged upma.
On the other hand, some Indian companies are trying to combine modern muesli & cereals with traditional Indian grains millet and ragi. Bengaluru based Soulfull with its ragi based breakfast cereal and Hyderabad based Health Sutra with its millet muesli are examples of companies who are latching on to this indigenization track
The bottom line is that the creation of a category takes time and effort which is, more often than not, a laborious and long task. Maybe breakfast in India will always remain an emotional aspect with traditional dadi-nani recipes. But maybe, innovations backed by technology and a deeper understanding of consumer behavior data will help these companies carve out a slice of the pie. CHEERS!
