Hindustan Unilever has launched a ready-to-cook range of Indian breakfast mixes under its Ayurvedic brand, Lever Ayush. The company expects its new offering, made from natural ingredients and preservatives-free, to appeal to the health-conscious busy professional.

The range comprises products such as millet upma, masala millet khichdi and aval millet pongal. The offerings are available in Chennai and on e-commerce platforms for now. The company said in an email response to Fortune India that it plans to launch the new products in other parts of the country in the coming days.

“Lever Ayush Foods marks our entry in to the health and naturals food segment. We firmly believe that with our brand vision of ‘traditional ingredients made contemporary’ we will be able to democratise benefits of Ayurveda-inspired recipes to the Indian consumer and do our part in making India healthy,” Geetu Verma, executive director, foods, HUL.

The breakfast cereal market in India, according to Euromonitor International, is valued at Rs 2,450 crore in India and grew at a CAGR of 21.4 % during 2012-2017.

“Innovation in products to suit the tastes of Indian consumers is expected to drive the growth of breakfast cereals in the forecast period. Products such as oats poha and oats upma are already instant hits,” says Dilip Radhakrishna, research analyst, food and nutrition, at Euromonitor International.

Arvind K. Singhal, chairman and managing director Technopak, says that the breakfast cereal market is an emerging one and consumer goods companies realise that Indians are happy eating traditional variants. “Most Indians still prefer a hot breakfast. Food habits are very difficult to change across the world and thus this market is growing rapidly,” he adds.

Hindustan Unilever will see competition in this segment from established players such as MTR, Kelloggs, PepsiCo, and Marico. Nestle announced last month that it would add breakfast cereals from its joint venture with General Mills, Cereal Partners Worldwide, to its portfolio.

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HUL launches Indian breakfast mixes