Agra Peas and Greens and Green Peas Pilaf are two of the boxed goods
that have made the Tasty Bite line a $25 million international seller
for Preferred Brands.
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Issue Date: 7/15/2002, Posted On: 7/15/2002
Premade, natural, ethnic make tasty business
combination
Preferred Brands says its Tasty Bite is America's hottest Indian food brand
John Pike
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STAMFORD, Conn. � As any racetrack denizen will tell you, one must bet on the fast horse. Meera Vasudevan and her Preferred Brands International have bet on three fast horses in the race for the American food dollar: Ready-to-Eat, All Natural and Ethnic Flavor. Raised in Bombay, India, Vasudevan, 44, along with her husband, Ashok, and Kartik Kilachand are the partners in the Stamford-based Preferred Brands. They started the privately held firm in 1994. Right away, Preferred Brands started distributing the products manufactured by Tasty Bite Eatables of Pune, India, in Maharashtra state. In the late '90s, Preferred Brands bought a majority share in Tasty Bite. A publicly traded company on the Bombay Stock Exchange, Tasty Bite manufacturers a line of packaged Indian foods. Their boxed foods carry descriptions such as "ready-to-eat, no cooking required" and "all natural: no artificial color, no preservatives." Tasty Bite has grown incrementally over the last several years to now generate about $25 million in global sales annually, said Vasudevan. Its products are sold in about 4,000 North American stores � in almost every U.S. state. They are also sold in several European countries, east Asia, the Middle East and, of course, India. "In terms of gross sales numbers, Tasty Bite is the fastest-growing and largest-selling Indian food brand in the United States," said Vasudevan. Bob Vosburgh, a Supermarket News editor, said foods that are pre-prepared, natural and ethnic � such as Tasty Bite's � capture "three hot areas." He said that, in general, sales are booming for all three of those types of foods. Preferred Brands has taken at least one of these trends and run with it � for what could be called a first-place finish. In natural-food stores, five of the top-10 ethnic-cuisine products are from Tasty Bite, said Spins, a research company for that industry. Spins said that, overall, Tasty Bite leads competitors such as Near East and Tamarind Tree in sales at natural-food stores. Tasty Bite's 45 percent of market share in those stores makes it their leading ethnic brand, Spins said. Meanwhile, demand for "natural" foods is headed up, Vosburgh said. Sales of natural foods in America recently have been increasing 23 percent annually, and now gross $5 billion, out of a total grocery business of $468 billion. Experts say that, in part, this is due to an increased perception by some of possible harm posed by chemicals and genetic engineering. In the ready-to-eat category, Tasty Bite is seeking to take advantage of another trend. With people working longer hours and families having two breadwinners, "the market for pre-prepared foods is growing because of the paucity of time to cook," said Vosburgh. The two-income-family trend he points to also means more people are eating out � many times in ethnic restaurants. This means they are exposed to a wider range of cuisines � and many want to eat these meals either at home or on the run. Also, as the number of South-Asian Americans has increased, this has meant a ready market for both Indian restaurants and prepared foods. When Preferred Brands first became involved with Tasty Bite, it changed the product and packaging to make it more international, said Vasudevan. In the United States, Tasty Bite was first introduced on the West Coast because its consumers were more attracted to natural products. The focus now was on Americans in general. Previously, Tasty Bite had been marketed toward South Asians and sold only in ethnic stores catering to them. Mainstream retailers that peddle Tasty Bite include such major chains as Shaw's Supermarkets and Stop & Shop. Shaw's has carried a few of Tasty Bite's products for two years, but does not sell them in stores that cater more to lower-income customers. The supermarket's middle-to-low-end markets do not have Tasty Bite products, because its customers tend to be less apt to experiment with new foods, said Shaw's spokesman Bernard Rogan. Tasty Bite products are manufactured with new packaging technology, originally developed for astronauts, that permits them to be made without chemicals or preservatives. They do not have to be refrigerated, unless they are opened. The company's products include curry sauces and pastes and boxed goods such as Bombay Potatoes (alu chole) and Agra Peas and Greens (methi mutter malai). Online, the entire Tasty Bite line retails between $2.50 and $4. The company has also recently developed a line of Thai food. The Tasty Bite manufacturing facility includes a 25-acre farm whose produce goes into the company's products. The plant has about 150 employees: Preferred Brands has 11 employees in the United States. Tasty Bite officials said the company is planning to soon introduce its products in a few more countries.