BakeryBiz, Mar-Apr, 2021

Sanjay Jhunjhunwala, Vice President – Sales and Marketing at 3F Industries talks to BakeryBiz about the organisation, its market positioning and their learnings from the COVID scenario.

As one of the foremost and earliest players in the exotic fats business in India, where does 3F stand today in the Indian market with regards to speciality fats or the chocolate industry, both in the Indian and the global context?
We are proud to be amongst the top 5 players in the world in the exotic fats business and amongst the top 3 in the speciality bakery fats business in India. Compound chocolates is a new business and we are in the process of establishing ourselves in the premium quality space.

Against the above background, what are the products on offer in the Indian market, and what kind of market share would 3F corner in individual categories?
Our products include: Bakery Fats – hydrogenated bakery shortening, interesterified bakery shortenings, aerated bakery shortenings, margarine and grainy vanaspati.

Compound Chocolates – slabs, chips, paste, dip, no added sugar slabs.

A high degree of customisation for various bakery applications (puffs, pastry, cakes, bread, biscuits, cookies, etc.) ensures a 25 per cent market share in the premium space.

The recent exit of 3F Fuji Foods from the group portfolio (acquisition by Allana, a competing brand), how does it affect the product portfolio of 3F and how has 3F geared to fill the gap in the times to come? Will it be an organic or inorganic approach to fulfil this gap?

Non-dairy cream was and will be an important product in the bakery basket. However, we have recently added Instant dry yeast and are soon getting into premixes. We are also working on a few other products to be included in the bakery basket. We always believe in an organic approach and it has worked out well so far.

As a player in the Bakery Fats, Margarine and Compound Chocolate category, what kind of market positioning and share does 3F claim and what is the reading of the market on individual parameters, given that competition, is growing?

We have always believed in the value addition of products which has been possible due to our extensive research and development. Value addition coupled with our strong marketing efforts has enabled a premium market positioning for us. The customer is always willing to pay a premium for good quality once he understands that it is something special and not a ME TOO product.

Unfortunately, the new competition believes in only market share and price war and turning the market into a commodity business. However, low  prices are not sustainable and you need to make a reasonable profit to spend on marketing and R&D to continuously keep churning out new products  year after year.

In all the offerings from 3F, given today’s consumer consciousness, what is the view and focus on health and nutrition, be it with  trans-fats and other additives? What is 3Fs commitment to the same?

3F is totally committed to health and nutrition and has already developed products to meet the trans-fat guidelines.

The present Health Minister has said India will be made trans-fat free by the year 2022. Your views on the same and the practicality of such a decision?

We would work shoulder to shoulder with the government agencies to implement the same. Educating bakeries to switch over to modern equipment (to process softer trans-free fats) will help speed up the process.

Elaborating on the existing product portfolio is 3F launching anything new and premium in the bakery industry?

A number of projects are being explored. However, at this moment it would be premature to share the plans. Our endeavour has always been to  become a one-stop solution for all bakery raw material needs except commodities such as sugar and maida.

What would your comments on the Covid scenario be? How badly were you affected and your learning’s from the pandemic? Any trends noticed and the way forward from here, as in future of the Indian bakery industry.

Covid has been a big learning curve. After the scary 1st quarter, matters slowly began to improve. Since migrant labour was not available, a lot of  baking shifted to the home and the home baking segment saw phenomenal growth. Even large bakeries got sourcing done thru home bakers. Bread consumption grew up parallelly as it is produced in automatic factories. Chocolate consumption was at an all-time high.

However, the puff segment took a major blow as it is an impulse food consumed fresh across selling counters and is not a product that is usually carried home. Schools and colleges being closed, the consumption and production of puffs, patties, kharies was at an all-time low, hitting the Puff
Bakery Fats Segment.

What is the level of research, innovation and development activities to develop new products?

Studying the consumption pattern and preference of the Indian customer has been a topic of major interest for us. Our R&D is totally focused to develop products that can continuously stay ahead of the competition.

Please throw some light on your manufacturing activities. What are your expansion plans? What kind of global footprint does 3F command specific to bakery related and allied products?

We have manufacturing facilities in Tadepalligudem (Andhra Pradesh), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Hyderabad and Ghana (Africa). We would like to expand in the Bakery ingredients segment such as Compounds, Premixes, Cake gel, Improvers, Enzymes, PRA, etc.

We have never explored the global market and do not have any global footprint in the bakery segment. India is a huge market in itself.