The Dutts have found a solution to a pressing problem. Calcutta-based Bidisha and her husband, Suman, love watching films but hate the thought of cooking once they are back home from a late evening show. They now have a way out: they stock up on packets of pre-cooked food. By a modest estimate, they use up to 56 such packets every month. Palak paneer, rajma, murg masallam — you name it, and they have it.

Slit, heat and eat — that’s the new mantra of the times. Clearly, a lifestyle revolution has swept Indians — and not just the Dutts — off their feet. Till yesterday, when it came to food, nothing in the world could keep them away from their staple diet of dal-sabzi or fish and rice. Now, believe it or not, Indians are more comfortable eating out of sachets and pouches. Cooking is out and ready-to-eat (RTE) foods are in.

It’s not quite clear how healthy the trend is (see How safe are RTEs?), but what’s obvious is that it’s taking off. Take someone like Rajiv Gulati, who is single, works for a call centre in Mumbai and has odd working hours. He can’t imagine waking up at 6 am, shopping for vegetables, cooking and eating — and reaching his office by 8.30 am. So Gulati keeps himself happy with his share of RTEs. His favourites are the lachha paratha, chicken nuggets and dum aloo.

A random survey conducted in Mumbai, Delhi and Calcutta by The Telegraph among 105 people in the age group of 30-45 with an average income of more than Rs 6 lakh per annum reveals that 65 per cent believe that these easy-to-prepare time savers have changed their lives. The remaining 35 per cent admit that RTE foods are a must for family gatherings and parties. About 75 per cent of the women surveyed said that with RTEs they no longer feel guilty about not being able to cook well.

Jodhpuri halwa, mirch ka salan, dal bukhara, palak paneer, rajma, dalmakhani, dum aloo, murg masallam — the range of packaged food is incredible, with prices ranging from Rs 25 to Rs 150. And that is why Prakrit and Saloni Narula of Calcutta say they are totally dependent on RTEs. Their 13-year-old child loves soups and fried fish, while they like vegetarian dishes. Saloni cooks dal and rotis every day but supplements the meals with packaged rajma, dum aloo or palak paneer. Five years ago, the family kept aside about Rs 775 for fancy RTE food items; today their budget is more than Rs 4,700. And when there are family gatherings or informal parties, it goes up by about Rs 1,500.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is not surprised by the figures. According to FICCI’S Food and Beverage Survey, 2006, the RTE food sector is growing by 20 per cent annually in an Indian food and beverage industry worth Rs 3,58,400 crore. And, according to market estimates, the RTE segment, which was worth Rs 6 crore in 1998, is likely to touch the Rs 300-crore mark by 2008.

Analysts define this changing taste as the consequence of an evolving lifestyle. A modified lifestyle, a nuclear family structure, and couples with more disposable income in hand and less time to spend in the kitchen are perhaps the core contributing factors.

And that’s why, says R.K. Srivastava, a leading Delhi-based marketing consultant who has been associated with several food manufacturing companies, the market for RTEs has grown by 45 per cent in the last 18 months. And Srikar Reddy, area manager, Food Bazaar, east, says that sales have increased by 55 per cent since 2005.

The top producers — MTR, Kohinoor, Tasty Bites, Indo-Nissin, Currie Classic and ITC — are all optimistic about the growth potential. And even in eastern India, where home-cooked food seemed to reign supreme till the other day, the jump has been “an encouraging 35-40 per cent” in the last six to eight months, says Anup Kumar Gupta, regional sales manager, MTR, East.

ITC’s branded packaged foods business has been expanding rapidly with sales growing to 62 per cent over the last year. Mumbai based Capital Foods — makers of Currie Classic — have seen their sales increase by 150 per cent in the RTE segment in the last two years. Priya Foods, which launched its RTEs in the last financial year, has seen a 40 per cent increase in sales. Says K.G. Nagarjunababu, deputy manager, marketing and coordination, Priya Foods, Hyderabad, “The figures can be attributed to the increasing number of working women in India, apart from youngsters and people going to north Asian countries for work.”

Ajaay K. Gupta, head, sales and marketing, Capital Foods Limited, connects the changing taste buds with the better availability of products through developed modern trade and retail outlets. With a strong upper middle class clientele, the company might consider expanding its range of region-specific products in the near future. “India is a vast country and the tastes vary in keeping with the regions,” says Gupta.

But not all experts are convinced that the RTE revolution is here to stay. Tasty Bite, a wholly owned subsidiary of Preferred Brands International, a US-based food company, has been marketing its RTE Indian foods in the US for more than a decade. In 1999, with the RTE trend just setting off in India, the company invested in RTEs in six cities. But two years later, the results were disappointing. “Even now, the market is not really ready,” says Ravi Nigam, Tasty Bite president.

Or take the Delhi-based Midland Fruit and Vegetable Products Ltd, makers of Bawarchi which had to shut shop within two years of its launch in 1987 because of a poor market response. The company relaunched a new RTE range four years ago under the brand name Jumbo International in Delhi with around 10 to 12 varieties of canned curries priced at Rs 40 per can. “But even the sales of Jumbo are very minimal,” says a company official.

The problem with the Indian market, some hold, is the fact that freshly-cooked food is easy to get. “I even know of some students in Pune who have got together and engaged caterers to ensure fresh, cooked food twice daily,” says M.A. Tejani, director, Gits Food Products Limited, Mumbai. “In fact, the whole world knows about our food habits. I remember, once when I was in Switzerland, the waiter displayed a menu, which had a thali with a papad on offer, especially for Indians.”

According to Gits’s studies and observations of Indian food habits, two categories of people buy RTEs. The first comprises Indian tourists — especially first-time travellers — who feel comfortable eating their own kind of food when they are away from home. The second category includes students who stuff their suitcases with packaged food before going abroad for education.

Says Tejani, “We have 22 products for export. As of now, we don’t have any plans to launch RTEs in India. Our findings and observations show that for the Indian clientele, RTEs not only get too expensive but also in a country where the concept and tradition of fresh cooked food is still prevalent, RTEs are unlikely to win over people.”

Fresh food, many believe, gives them nutrition that packets don’t provide. Questions, in fact, are being raised about the nutritional or calorific value of packaged food. “Are there enough micro nutrients, fibres, vitamins or anti-oxidants present in these kind of food,” asks Shanghamitra Chakravarti, chief dietician, Birla Heart Research Institute. “In the case of home-made food, you get enough anti-oxidants, which guard against a host of degenerative diseases.”

Even consumer groups are a little wary. Bejon Mishra, CEO of Delhi-based consumer organisation, VOICE, points out that its studies conducted with the ministry of agriculture, department of food processing industries, in 2001 and 2003 reveal that 80 per cent of imported food products violate the existing food safety laws of the country. The nutritional label is not even mandatory for RTE foods, he says.

But, right now, Saloni Narula has no time for the Cassandras. There was a time when Narula, who moved to Calcutta from Delhi, would rather go hungry than cook. These days, royal menus are a snap — and a snip.