The Devil`s Alternative

By Piasi Sinha

Lucretius Carus (96-55 BC) famously said, “One man’s meat is another’s poison.” This is still relevant today for a section of consumers who suffer from food allergies and struggle everyday to get balanced nourishment.

According to Dr. Ajit Sood, professor and head, Gastroenterology Unit of Dyanand Medical College & Hospital (DMCH), food sensitivity or food allergy is an unplesant reaction to a specific food or ingredient, which one person experiences but others do not. The situation becomes alarming when a person becomes allergic to staples like wheat. “Our system requires a balanced diet, but for someone who has food allergy, the source of such vitamin and protein is not available. Hence, they need to depend on alternative foods for a balanced diet,” says Dr Srawgini Ray, a general physician.

This is where alternative hypoallergenic food comes into play. The hypoallergenic food acts the alternative source for particular ingredients that might cause allergies in some people.
Although the concept is still new in India, experts believe that category is poised to grow as food allergy cases continue to rise.

Decoding the allergy

The most common food allergens include milk, corn, wheat, egg, nuts, soya and yeast. In fact, almost 80 to 90 percent food allergy is caused by gluten (protein present in oats, rye, barley) and casein (present in milk and dairy products).

In a research study, ‘Emergence of celiac disease and chrone’s disease in India’, by GK Makharia and RK Tandon, celiac disease affects about one percent of the general population world over. It suggests that celiac disease is relatively common, affecting one of every 120 per 300 persons in North America. In India, the frequency of celiac disease is currently underestimated. As per a recently conducted seroprevalence study (the number of persons in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on serology (blood serum) specimens) in schoolchildren in Chandigarh, the prevalence of celiac disease was 1:120 in them, which is almost equal to that in Europe and North America. Yet if we apply this prevalence data to the population of 1,100 million, the expected number of patients with celiac disease in India may be close to 8.8 million.

Early mover advantage

Acknowledging the need for an alternative food source as a substitute for wheat flour, Sunira Foods entered the market in 2006 and created a line of products in ready-to-cook category designed predominantly to serve consumers suffering from celiac disease or wheat allergy. “Imagine a life without rotis, cookies, oats, sooji, puri, cake etc, which are part of our lifestyle. It is all the more difficult for children beacuse they love to eat such foods but fail to understand why they should not. It is the very need of giving them a substitute that prompted the company to venture into this segment. For us, it was more of passion than profession,” says Tulika Chamaria Saraogi, deputy to CEO, Sunira Foods Pvt Ltd.

While most people suffering from celiac disease opt for rice as a staple food, rice in itself does not ensure a balanced diet. The CEO of Sunira Foods, Sunira Saraogi, thus launched the brand Heal’thySelf with a range of atta, sooji and dalia, which are specially manufactured as hypoallergenic food.

Tukila Saraogi reasons, “There is a lot of demand for hypoallergenic food. Substitutes for milk are available in the market in the form of soy milk and almond milk, manufactureres have not stepped into making the alternative to wheat atta in India yet. Wheat allergy is very common in north India. But the awareness level is very low in the country. Neither the children nor their parents know much about celiac disease or wheat allergy. Even a lot of doctors are not aware of celiac disease and they often confuse it with food intolerence or irritation bowel syndrome (IBS).”

“We have seen people importing hypoallergenic atta priced at Rs 600 or Rs 700 per kg from other countries. Moreover, the courier charges are higher than the price of the product itself, which makes it a costly affair. In our economic structure, it is unaffordable by most families. Therefore, the need for an alternative to wheat atta is on the rise. At Sunira Foods, we started manufacturing hypoallergenic atta at gluten-free environment.”

The unique range

Heal’thy Self markets a wide range of products in ready-to-cook as well as ready-to-eat category acting as good sources of complex carbohydrates and dietary fibre. Having a low Glycaemic Index value (GI), these help retard the rate of digestion and absorption of carbohydrates ensuring low release of sugar into the blood stream and thereby regulating the blood glucose level. Being rich in fibre and complex carbohydrates, the product range ialso helps control obesity and diabetes. The range has been carefully developed by the food technologists and diteicians to provide an important source of vitamins such as vitamin B1, B2, B3 and B6. The products also contain essential minerals as zinc, magnesium and potassium.

The brand has also extended its product range by introducing chocofudge and butter cookies and vanilla cake mix. In Kolkata, the brand recently introduced a rnge of breads, loaves and pizza bases. “Our ready-to-cook products were well-accepted in the market. Based on their need and feedback we have introduced loaf and pizza base,” informs Saraogi. Catering to the s pecific need and market demand, the atta is avaible in two pack sizes – one kg and half kg priced at Rs 129 and Rs 66 respectively. While sooji and dalia are available in 250 gms pack sizes priced at Rs 39, maida is available in a half kg size priced at Rs 79. The ready-to-eat chocofudge and vanilla cookies are priced at Rs 105 and the cake mix is priced at Rs 119 (for 250 gms). The gluten and casein-free bread is priced at Rs 89.

Quality control

Sunira’s product portfolio is backed by a a dedicated state-of-the-art infrstraucture in Kolkata to ensure a gluten-free environment during the production. “People who suffer from severe gluten allergy might face problems if their food has been, in any way, exposed to gluten. So we need to be extra careful about it,” informs Saraogi. Sorghum, the raw material for Heal’thySelf products, is sourced from dedicated gluten-free fields and then brought to the plant in Kolkata to make the finished products. The production process takes places under strict quality control measure and the guidance of food technologists and dieticians.

The brand boasts of having a team of professionals including a food technologist, a microbiologist, a genetic expert and quality control officers. The company’s back-end system is supported by a sound research wing whose endeavour remains to take feedback from the customers and then improve the product line accordingly. The company also follows stringent quality contol measures at every step to maintain global standards.

The company ensures efficient techniques to ensure that the products are manufactured in a 100-percent gluten-free environment, free from chemicals and preservatives but still boast of a long shelf life. Moreover, every batch is tried and tested for quality before it goes to the market. The specialised team also helps the brand to take up research projects for other corporates dealing in speciality diets. The brand, for instance, formulated recipes for Autism Foundation for special requirements and manufactured a sample batch for test marketing.

Branding Exercise

The brand initially started with atta as its prime product, and it still accounts for atleast 70 percent of the total product portfolio. Although the brand has been designed and tagged as hypoallergenic and primarily targets those suffering from gluten allergies and casein allergies, to expand its identity further, the brand has recently attached a wellness tag.
“Apart from the fact that it is gluten-free, our products also have the goodness of fibre, minerals and vitamins which adds to its wellness value,” informs Saraogi. The products are also being pitched as being helpful in controlling obesity and diabetis. “The products have been developed in such a way that apart from helping people from celiac disease it also helps in enhancing the general well-being of a person. The products improve digestion, supply essentials to the body and give proper nutrition,” adds
Saraogi.

To market the wellness factors of the products, the brand has also tagged the products to be beneficial for heart patients and children. The brand is focussing on the mother and child care aspects by promoting the healthy and balanced formulation of the product range. To communicate its wellness pitch clearly, the brand uses its stylish packaging as a medium. “We roped in a creative agency to create brand name and the packaging design. The name communicates ‘healthy self’ to a regular consumer, whereas to those with special needs (consumers with celiac disease) it would read as heal thy self,” quips Tulika Saraogi. Sunira is also using packaging as an innovative medium to communicate about the benefits of the product and promote the ­category.

The brand takes utmost care in labelling the products and ensures that it is mentioned at the label that the product is gluten-free, casein-free and is produced in gluten-free environment. “Although India does not have stringent labelling laws, this labelling is mandatory in other countries. So we mention all details of the ingredients, recipes, information on celiac disease, calories count etc on the label itself. Even the packging quality is superior, because the product has a wellness and natural tag, which has a huge market in the premium segment,” says Saraogi.

As a part of its marketing startegy, the brand is promoting itself aggressively in northern India and other markets. Sunira has been conducting workshops on celiac diseases, doing in-store promotions and strategic advertisements in print media. “Our prime focus remains on doctors as they are the one point contact for the huge population suffering from wheat allergy. We try and educate them about our product and take participation in various conferences and seminars,” says Saraogi.

To reach out to its customers directly, the brand runs a comprehensive website with an online shopping format. It also entertains orders and feedbacks from individual customers. “We have put up every information on the site and we also provide diet counselling, recipes to help mothers and children. It helps a creating a direct relation with our customers; we get information on their demands and needs, and accordingly we improve the product line,” adds Saraogi.

Over the past three years, the brand has already made a mark in the retail markets making its availibility in 150 modern retail outlets spread across Punjab, Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Bangalore, Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. “Our supply chain consists of distributors and retailers in every city, especially in the north region. We are now entering into strategic tie-ups with retailers,” informs Tulika Saraogi.

The brand Heal’thySelf has recently tied up with Reliance Wellness. “Ours is a very niche product so we sell it through modern retail formats like Spencer’s Hyper and Haldiram’s Food City in Kolkata and Le Marche in Delhi. Though we are also looking at traditional grocery outlets, since they don’t have much awareness about the category it is very difficult to convince them. So right now we are focussing on modern formats,” Saraogi confirms.

Spearing Ahead

Adding another feather to its cap, Sunira Foods has now developed the products to suit the needs of people suffering from Autism. “Doctors are now suggesting dietary intervention as a supplement to behavioural intervention. A combination of the two can help the patients. Gluten and casein-free food helps effectively. Our food products are being prescribed by doctors and being used by many patients across India,” informs Saraogi. The brand is now also organising workshops and seminars with the support groups for austic patients to promote the concept nationwide.

In the coming years, Sunira Foods will focus on expanding its retail penetration in all wheat-eating zones across India. However, the company is also looking at creating a long term relationship with its customers by offering them products that are designed to suit their expectations. From being driven by an indomitable passion to help people who are suffering from food allergy, the brand has now graduated into a brand that has a wellness and ‘nature’ label attached to it. Although the brand has not had a meteoric rise in sales, it has certainly registered double digit and steady growth. “The company has just seen the break even and it has a long way to go,” concludes Tulika Chamaria Saraogi on a positive note.