Exponential growth in urban population and fast-paced lifestyles have given a significant push to the Indian processed food market, fuelling its rise to a value of Rs.22,830 billion in 2021, and anticipating a CAGR of 10 percent till 2027. People nowadays are looking for ready-to-eat dietary options due to a hectic work schedule leaving little to no time for preparing meals for themselves.
However, maintaining health through satisfying the daily need of nutrition is also a matter of concern for the Indian consumers alongside the search for time saving quick fixes. This is where NRC Agro came into the picture to come up with a wide variety of processed food products while paying attention to its quality, cost-effectiveness, and health benefits.
Based in Chennai, NRC Agro prioritises listening to the changing needs of the consumer and has taken a step ahead to deliver fresh cut vegetables and fruits along with ready-to-eat salads and vegetable mixes.
Started out as a wholesaler of vegetables in 1954, NRC Agro then expanded to frozen vegetables and frozen foods division in 2007 and set up its latest unit of fresh cut vegetables in 2018.
The company is armed with both backward and forward integration that enables them to procure the vegetables directly from the farmers and take those to the shelves direct to the consumer. The products are delivered in a timely fashion to protect the freshness and hygiene without any additives. NRC Agro believes in the idea of adapting to latest market trends and modifying its product basket as per the consumer demands in order to proceed towards further growth.
Array of Offerings
The wide spectrum of products that NRC Agro deals with is segmented into three divisions such as wholesale unit of fresh vegetables, frozen foods & snacks and fresh cut vegetables & fruits. They are currently upgrading their machinery to meet growing demand. They supply frozen green peas and sweet corn under their NRC brand along with other frozen food from their unit in Virugambakkam.
The company has created a distinct place for itself in the South-Indian marketplace with the latest addition of fresh cut produce. At present, they deliver 8-10 tonnes of cut vegetables daily. NRC has deployed their own supply chain that starts from direct procurement of vegetables from the farmers right up to the point it reaches the end consumer.
S.R. Athipati Pandian, Director at NRC Agro states, “We are a family run company that emphasizes on listening to its customers. Therefore, customizing the products as per the client’s preferences is our main forte. We listen to our consumers and modify our production and product basket accordingly. So, our core ability lies in customizing our products as per what the customer has been expecting and we are able to meet the quality as well as provide a competitive pricing to our customer due to our vast experience and longevity in the market”.
Future Endeavours
The Indian government has been encouraging export operations upon the acknowledgement of the processed food industry as a high-priority sector. In the light of this enthusiasm, NRC Agro is looking forward to take their products to overseas countries. “We are planning to circulate our products in various cities of India and other countries as well. The goal is to build the customer base beyond Chennai and to know the customer requirements in the neighbouring states and cities. We are gearing up to extend our reach in ten cities across South India by 2030”.
