Most in India are aware of the kellogg’s brand but Bagrrys is also making its presence felt in India. But do you know whether its an India brand or a foreign brand? Many think that Bagrrys is another foreign brand, because of the way the name sounds.
But Bagrrys is actually an Indian brand and here’s the story behind it.
Importance of Wheat Bran
Delhi-based business man Shyam Bagri had a flourishing, wheat processing business – whose customers included food processing giants like Parle and Britannia.
Bagri knew wheat bran well (the outer layer of the wheat grain), but became aware of its nutritional benefits only after reading Gandhi’s autobiography, My Experiments With Truth (where he spoke about chokher – wheat bran)/
The family mills extracted vast quantities of wheat bran as a by-product while making refined flour (maida) and semolina (sooji / rava), but it was simply sold off to be mixed in cattle feed.
Initial Products
Bagri, after his newfound knowledge started selling wheat bran as a health food in the early 1990s.
As a miller, Bagri knew the process of manufacturing quality bran and decided to work on it. Bagri later began selling it in 500 gm packs with the brand name Wheatex (first in India to do so).
Fully aware that selling wont be easy (in the 90s people were not health conscious), Bagri turned distributor himself, selling directly to shopkeepers in Delhi.
After finding success, Bagri launched another product in 1993 – a health product, oat bran – the bran extracted while processing oats. In 1995, he went on to manufacture muesli – oats, mixed with dried fruit and nuts.
Bagri to Bagrrys
It was in 1995 that the umbrella brand ‘Bagrry’s’ emerged – to go with all the health food products the company sold.
“The advertising agencies came up with options, and we changed our surname a bit,” laughs Bagri.
Bagrry’s has since introduced other products, but has remained consistent in producing health foods alone.
Obsessed with Health
Bagrry had launched its own brand of cornflakes, but withdrew it soon after, when Bagri realised cornflakes were not healthy. “To make cornflakes, the corn is de-branned and de-germinated, so that all its nutritive value is lost. It has only starch. Its glycemic index is also high,” says Bagri.
Bagrry’s, however, re-entered the cornflakes market with bran-added cornflakes – once again a first in the Indian market – the bran making all the difference to its nutritive value.
Mr Bagri says he will not compromise on the quality of his products to lower its nutritional value.
- “I can double my turnover by adding sooji to our portfolio, but I will not, since our emphasis will always be on healthy products,” says Bagri.
- He also takes care to use high quality raw materials, importing raw oats from Northern England and Scotland, and almonds and natural soya-based antioxidants for his muesli from the United States.
- The wheat bran, white oats and oat bran are made in Delhi, while another factory in Himachal Pradesh, manufactures the muesli and bran-added cornflakes.
Faces Tough Competition
“Oats is the most important component of muesli. We have close to 40 per cent oats in our muesli, while another leading brand has only five per cent,” says Bagri (does not want to reveal the name of the brand, but it shows how times have changed).
Bagri may have been the pioneer of healthy breakfast foods, but he now faces strong competition.
PepsiCo, for instance, dominates the oats market with its Quaker Oats. Companies such as Marico, Britannia and Dr. Oetker have all entered the breakfast cereal category over the past year with oats, muesli and other ready-to-cook products.
With Indians’ breakfast menus changing rapidly, the competition will only get tougher in coming years, since the potential for growth is enormous.
However, Bagri remains unperturbed. He believes the best way to fight rivals is to constantly innovate. Bagrry’s already has several varieties of muesli, and will come out with more. Its new bran added cornflakes also come in different varieties.
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