Why does Adani Wilmar believe that the real opportunity in rice marketing lies in rice staples?

The recently listed Adani Wilmar is already among the leading players in the food products business with its well known Fortune brand. Now it is looking to dominate the rice staples market. Staple rice is the rice that we eat regularly at our homes for lunch and dinner. Adani Wilmar is averse to the idea of one-size fits all approach. Therefore it is planning to get into rice staples, with a very strong regional focus and a customized regional flavour.

Broadly, there are two classifications in the Indian rice market. The Basmati rice market has a large number of organized players, but it accounts for less than 9% of rice consumption in India. The big chunk of rice consumption in India happens in the regular staple consumption category. This is the rice people use daily at their homes. This is very localized and largely unbranded market. Adani Wilmar will actually customize and narrowcast to this market.

Look at the rice dispersion in India. In Bengal, the preferred rice is Minikhet rice. If you look at the state of Uttar Pradesh, the most popular rice is Sona Masuri. However, in South India, the most popular rice is Kolam rice. These are very regional and dispersed tastes and cannot be served with a single national level model. Adani Wilmar believes Indians are very fussy about their core palate and hence it requires a local flavour with a national brand.