Providing affordable proteins is our goal, says Godrej Tyson chief

Godrej Tyson Foods Ltd (GTFL), joint venture between Godrej Agrovet and US-based Tyson Foods, that manufactures poultry and vegetarian products, is on a mission to address the country’s nutritional security by making affordable protein products.

Arabind Das, Whole Time Director and Chief Operating Officer, GTFL says the per capita consumption of proteins in India is currently 63.2 gm against the WHO recommendation of 84 gm per day. Of this, 72 per cent of the protein need is met from pulses and cereals, while the rest comes from dairy, meat, fish, poultry etc.

GTFL is attempting to take the lead in spreading nutritional security through innovative and affordable proteins. With this focus, the company has re-launched a range of cold cuts such as sausages, breakfast salami, pepper and herb salami chicken, cheese onion under its fastest growing brand, Yummiez, in October last year.

Ever since the launch, the cold cuts have garnered a compound annual growth rate of 34 per cent. The total processed food market in India is estimated to be worth $69 billion of which the frozen part-fried and fully cooked market is estimated to be around $300 million.

Yummiez is eyeing at least 10 per cent of this market in the next 2-3 years, Das told BusinessLine . Outlining his plans to serve consumers in a better way with convenient ready-to-cook products at affordable prices, Das said GTFL is expanding its operations to have a pan-India presence. Excerpts:

How far you have progressed in your mission in addressing India’s protein deficiency?

Attaining food safety in India by 2025 is a big challenge considering the population growth and protein inflation. Of this, nutritional security is a major component which we are trying to address through innovative products developed on the basis of consumer insights, taste profiles and consumption habits.

We are putting efforts to bring out innovative, convenient, ready-to-cook products. The re-launch of the existing products and new product developments are done solely with this intent.

One of the key areas of focus for GTFL is to increase retail presence across the country through its well-established cold chain network.

Tyson Foods’ expertise in vertical integration combined with GTFL’s local innovations to rear hygienic and affordable poultry will help us in meeting the goal of offering affordable protein products even to consumers at the bottom of the pyramid.

Over the last three years, we have provided 2,500 plus chillers and freezers to mom-and-pop shops for stocking and selling our range of products and have invested around ₹8-10 crore. We are present in 72 cities and aiming to be in 100 in the next 2-3 years time.

Do you face any obstacles in achieving this mission?

There are several challenges. They include high import duties on equipment and power costs. VAT on ready-to-cook frozen products differs in various States between 5 and 17.5 per cent. A hygiene tax of 5 per cent levied in some States for raw poultry meat is also deterring growth prospects.

Tell us about the contract farming activities for poultry meat?

Our poultry operations are vertically integrated. This involves the supply of day-old chicks of the best breed (Cobb 400) to our contract farmers along with feeds from our own plants and support with veterinary services and training for rearing. Currently, over 650 contract farmers are based in Nasik and Karnataka and these two regions provide sufficient birds to meet our present requirements.

The per capita consumption of poultry meat is expected to go up from 3.2 kg to 4.8 kg in the next five years. Considering the growth in demand, we will continue to add and train more farmers in poultry rearing.

What is your take on the Kerala market?

Kerala is a dominant non-vegetarian market and products such as cold cuts or chicken nuggets give homemakers an opportunity to create a quick and healthy breakfast.

This has strengthened the brand and has given us overall growth of 36 per cent. Yummiez is available in 175 outlets and we plan to increase the dealer network to 250 plus in three years.

The market has the potential to grow further and GTFL has also started a stock point in Eramallur in Alappuzha district with the target of achieving 50 per cent growth in the State.

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