Branded, healthy food products are seeing more traction, says Angshu Mallick, COO, Adani Wilmar Ltd

You recently launched an innovation in the cooking oil space. What is the USP of that product?
We have been working on this unique offering for almost four years now and have launched the innovation under the Fortune Vivo brand. This edible oil has been made with a blend of 20% unrefined antioxidant lignans-rich sesame oil and 80% partially refined ?-oryzanol rich rice bran oil. The reason it's unique is because the blend has shown to have potential blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol-lowering efficacies in hypertensives and type-II diabetes mellitus patients. Clinical trials with hypertensive patients who cooked using this edible oil showed a significant drop in blood pressure (SBP 12.8%; DBP 13.5%), a significant decrease in total cholesterol (18.3%), LDL-cholesterol (27.5%), triglycerides (12.6%) and non-HDL-cholesterol (25.4%), and significant increase of HDL-cholesterol (11%). Hypertensives treated in combination of this edible oil and antihypertensive medication showed a highly significant reduction of blood pressure (SBP 23.8%; DBP 23.6%). The reason it is a very important development is that use of this cooking oil could be of clinical relevance for the development of prevention strategies in the population at risk of hypertension, type-II diabetes mellitus and future cardiovascular risk.

So you're saying the cooking oil can actually help control high sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol?
Yes. In fact, as per reports of 75th American Diabetes Association scientific meeting, USA and 2nd World Congress of the Clinical Lipidology, Austria, use of Fortune Vivo Diabetes Care edible oil as cooking oil for 60 days reduced fasting and postprandial blood sugar (14.36%, 21.9%, respectively), HbA1c (10.96%), total cholesterol (20%), LDL-cholesterol (31.97%) and triglycerides (13%) and increased HDL-C (12.86%) in patients with type-II diabetes mellitus. That apart, diabetes patients who were treated in combination of this edible oil and antidiabetic medication showed a greatest reduction of fasting and postprandial blood sugar (30%, 35% respectively), and HbA1c (22%). We are certain that using this edible oil as the only cooking oil provides prospective evidence for the control of high blood pressure, hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia.

What is your go to market strategy with this product?
I think the technical part of creating the product is over and now we will embark on a consumer awareness programme that will focus on demonstrating the effectiveness of this product. It will take six months just to get a feedback from the market and possibly two years to establish it in the market. We have priced it very attractively when compared to cost of medication for keeping a check on high blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol. The products will be sold through established retail outlets in class A and B cities / towns. We currently sell our products through 1 million outlets in the country and expect at least 3-4 lakh outlets to stock our health products. We will also use the e-commerce platforms to sell this cooking oil.

Is moving to health products a cautious move by the company?
Basically, everything is health related and one can say that all oils are healthy just that some may have good qualities and not-so-good qualities. While 90% of the products will be for mass consumption, 10% falls into the healthy oil category. In the case of Fortuna Vivo though, we have a very smart blend of two good oils and the weightage of better is very high in this case. And given the gradual shift towards health products, I think the 90:10 ratio will become 80:20 in the coming 3 to 5 years.

How big is the branded and non-branded products business? What kind of growth is being witnessed?
Branded products form 65% of the overall business of Rs 18,000 crore and the balance 35% is non-branded. The branded goods business is growing faster at 18-20% while it is 12-14% for non-branded goods. Within brands, soya bean oil is the biggest contributor with around 60% of the total branded business. Then, there are emerging oils of the future viz. sunflower, palmolive and mustard. They may not have big volume at present, but have definitely made their presence felt and lot of customers are slowly making a shift considering the health benefits.

The company also sells pulses and basmati rice. How are these products fairing in the market?
They are in the initial stages and very small at around 7-8% of the total business. Food is a new business and we are going through the pain currently. Like any other business, it's a tough category in the initial stages, but we are streamlining and improvising in this category. These categories have the potential to become very big and there is a strong possibility of Indian population gradually shifting to branded products in the coming years. Just look at oil where it was 20 years ago, today 60% is branded. Similarly, we foresee branded products like aatta, dal, rice, sugar etc., getting more traction in the market.