Processed food exports gain steam, US leads the rise in global appetite

New Delhi: India's processed foods exports are on an upswing, driven by increasing sales of items such as instant coffee in Russia and frozen potato products across Asia and the Gulf countries.

Exports of ready-to-eat and cooked food items increased 16% to $2.4 billion in 2025-26 from $2.1 billion in the previous financial year, according to an ET analysis. The analysis is based on 11 items including pasta, sweet biscuits, pastries, papad, coffee and tea.

Exports of food preparations (not elsewhere specified), the largest category in the basket, increased 13.3% year-on-year to $794 million from $700.6 million. The US retained its position as the largest market, importing products worth $204.7 million in 2025-26 compared with $191.2 million in the preceding fiscal. The UAE was the second-largest market ($78.9 million), while exports to the UK recorded strong growth, increasing 21.8% to $59.5 million.

"India's ready-to-eat food products are now going beyond the diaspora to the mainstream with slight tweaks in taste to cater to the larger audience. Also, our products are increasingly expanding to the hotel, restaurant and catering (HoReCa) sectors in markets abroad," said an official, who did not wish to be identified.

Instant coffee (flavoured and unflavoured) emerged as another key growth driver, with exports accelerating 20.6% to $630.5 million in 2025-26 from $523 million a year ago. Meanwhile, exports of prepared and preserved frozen potatoes surged 34.8% to $289.4 million from $214.6 million.

Growth in instant coffee exports was driven primarily by unflavoured varieties, with shipments to Russia significantly expanding to $132.2 million from $74.8 million. Other key destinations included Poland ($41.2 million), the US ($37.3 million) and Turkiye ($35.4 million).

In the flavoured coffee segment, El Salvador emerged as a new export destination with imports worth $9.5 million in 2025-26 while shipments to Myanmar increased sharply to $3.2 million. "The impact of the American tariffs was limited because these are small-ticket items," the official said, adding that new markets such as Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States countries also contributed to the export growth.

The ₹10,900-crore Production Linked Incentive scheme for food processing gave an impetus to the outbound shipments as ready-to-eat and cooked food forms one of the four components which have seen investments of nearly ₹4,100 in the past five years.

Haresh Karamchandani, managing director and group CEO at HyFun Foods, a manufacturer-exporter of frozen foods, said that overseas markets are becoming increasingly receptive to Indian products, driven by the country's consistently high quality standards and expanding product portfolio, with products such as French fries, hash browns, burger patties and jalapeno cheese pops witnessing strong demand across retail and business-to-business segments. "The portfolio for frozen potato products and speciality menu is growing rapidly, making them two of the fastest-growing categories in India's processed food exports ," he said.