Food giants focus on the fine print to serve you right

It’s not the price tag drawing the eyes of Indian shoppers lately; it's the fine print. More than ever, consumers are pausing in grocery aisles to decipher the seemingly cryptic lines of ingredients and calorie counts on product packaging.

And industry giants like Dabur, Nestlé and Kwality Wall's are racing to match the pace of Indians' growing skepticism. Suddenly, the flashy fonts on the front of the box aren’t enough; they actually have to defend what's on the back.

For 62% of Indians, the ingredient list now matters more than the celebrity on the pack. Ingredient transparency has emerged as the top factor influencing snack choices, ahead of endorsements and influencer recommendations, according to the Farmley Healthy Snacking Report 2026.

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This shows that trust and transparency are becoming core food-sector expectations, not “niche” concerns, Shashi Kant Singh, Partner -Agriculture - Food - Agribusiness, PwC India, told ET Online in an email response.

This shift comes at a time when India's growing diabetes burden is bringing healthier eating into sharper focus. India faces the world's second-highest economic burden from diabetes at USD 11.4 trillion, behind only the United States. Researchers say the high cost is largely driven by the country's large diabetic population, adding that regular physical activity and a balanced diet remain the most effective ways to prevent the disease and reduce its economic impact.

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“India’s food sector is clearly at an inflection point. Health, transparency and trust are rapidly moving from being niche concerns to mainstream expectations, cutting across urban and semi-urban consumers,” as per Singh.

Brands are catching up

For years, Kwality Wall’s essentially served India palm oil-based "frozen desserts", but that era is officially over for the company.

The brand is now undergoing one of its biggest strategic resets yet under its new global entity, The Magnum Ice Cream Company. Speaking exclusively with The Economic Times last month, global CEO Peter ter Kulve made it clear that they are ready to give Indian consumers milk-based products which are served elsewhere in the world instead of frozen desserts.

“The company took a principled decision to become a full dairy business even without a formal business case," ter Kulve stated. "About half of the portfolio will be dairy-based this year, with most of the transition completed next year."

The overhaul is designed to eliminate a long-standing product gap between India and global markets. As ter Kulve put it: “We are not a frozen dessert company anywhere in the world; we are an ice cream company. In India, we changed everything, everything.”

ter Kulve, who previously oversaw Unilever’s global home care business, said the company is rebuilding its India playbook around local manufacturing, regional distribution and sharper price point targeting, similar to the strategy consumer companies used to scale up categories such as detergents and snacks.

The new Kwality Wall's containers now carry the label ‘milk-based ice cream’ instead of ‘frozen dessert.’

FSSAI rules require manufacturers to clearly state on the packaging whether a product is an ice cream or a frozen dessert, so consumers can make an informed choice. According to a FSSAI document, “Frozen Dessert or Frozen Confection means the product obtained by freezing a pasteurised mix prepared with edible vegetable oils or fats, having a melting point of not more than 37°C, or vegetable protein products, or both. It may also contain milk fat and other milk solids, with the addition of nutritive sweeteners and other permitted non-dairy ingredients. The said product may contain incorporated air and may be frozen hard or frozen to a soft consistency.”

Change in recipe

Kwality Wall's isn’t the only packaged food giant overhauling its recipe for a more conscious Indian consumer. A similar health-focused transformation is quietly playing out in the beverage aisle.

Dabur, the maker of India's 'Réal' juice brand, previously pledged to cut sugar by 5% in two-thirds of its beverages by 2021, followed by an additional 5% reduction across half its portfolio by 2023.

"Not only did we meet those targets, but we went above and beyond, achieving a 21% reduction compared to 2018 levels, more than double what we had committed," Mohit Malhotra, CEO of Dabur India Limited, told ET Online.

"In 2026–27, we’re rolling out yet another round of sugar reduction, this time in two of our much-loved variants: Réal Mixed Fruit and Réal Guava," he added.

However, shaving off sugar is only half the strategy. Dabur is also leaning heavily into health-focused alternatives; its Réal Activ line features zero-added-sugar variants, alongside low-calorie entries like coconut water at under 20 calories.

In response to ET Online’s questions, Nestlé India spokesperson said that consumers today are looking for products that combine great taste with nutrition, quality and trust. “We are responding through continuous innovation, renovation of existing products and science-backed nutrition. We are leveraging our global R&D capabilities to offer choices that meet evolving consumer preferences.”

Even as Nestlé bets on nutrition-led innovation, its Milk Products and Nutrition segment contributed 33.4% of the company's total turnover in the last financial year, down from 38.1% a year earlier.

Difference in fine print?

Nestlé faced sharp criticism after an April 2024 report by Public Eye, a Swiss investigative organisation, and the International Baby Food Action Network alleged a double standard: the company was adding sugar to Cerelac infant food sold in India and other developing markets, while selling sugar-free versions of the same product in developed Western countries.

While Nestlé India pushed back against the findings, claiming there was no disparity in standards between its regional formulations, the company has actively moved to address nutritional concerns. It stated that it has reduced sugar in Cerelac by up to 30% over the past five years and recently introduced a new Cerelac range featuring a "no refined sugar" option.

When Biscoff biscuits, once a coveted badge tucked into suitcases from Europe because they were rare, expensive and indulgent, finally hit Indian shelves in ₹10 packs, social media was quick to question whether the ingredients had been altered for the local market. Responding to the chatter, Lotus Bakeries said the recipe remains the same as the one sold globally and that every cookie meets its global quality standards. The company added that only ingredient names may differ to comply with local labelling requirements.

The back of the pack is becoming the front of the story. India’s premium and health-food segment is currently growing two-to-three times faster than traditional packaged food, according to Ronak Shah, Lead Analyst at Equirus Securities.

Breaking down the numbers, he said, Zydus Wellness is seeing its RiteBite Max Protein line grow at over 20%, outpacing every other product in its portfolio, including its classic, seasonal best-sellers, showing India’s growing appetite for healthier options.

The cost question & quotient

Riding the wellness wave is one thing, but funding it is another. Indian consumers increasingly want “better-for-you” products, but often at the same price points they are accustomed to. Delivering on this expectation is not straightforward, PwC’s Singh said. Healthier ingredients, traceable sourcing, reformulation and stronger quality controls add layers of cost, he further added.

The more structural question is whether India can deliver “healthier” food at scale without making it expensive and unsustainable. Cleaner-ingredient positioning allows better realisation, but input cost is higher — cold-pressed oils, whey protein, real fruit content all cost more than their commodity equivalents.

Unpacking the sense of the wellness wave, Equirus Securities’ Shah said the margin benefit comes from lower advertising intensity as the category matures and from operating leverage, not from the ingredient switch itself.

The companies currently winning on margin in this space (Marico Foods, Zydus RiteBite) are doing so because distribution density is finally catching up with brand investment, not because clean ingredients are cheap, he told ET Online.

Nestlé spokesperson stated that India has a strong food ecosystem, growing manufacturing capabilities and a rapidly evolving consumer market. “As companies invest in technology, R&D and efficient operations, healthier products can become more accessible.”

Shah is optimistic that India can achieve healthy food at scale without the premium price tag, thanks to a mix of volume-driven cost curves and high competitive intensity. It’s a playbook driven by three distinct catalysts.

First, the introduction of GST 2.0, which slashed taxes on most packaged foods to 5%, has effectively erased the tax penalty that used to make health foods look like a luxury. Second, FMCG majors are playing the classic Indian affordability card: using mini-sachets and ₹10–15 entry packs to hook consumers without hurting their own per-kilo margins. Finally, backward integration is giving companies tighter control over their supply chains, ensuring that eating clean doesn't require a second mortgage.

In the end, India’s health transition in food will be defined by one balancing act: aligning aspiration judiciously, Singh said. “Companies that can solve this equation at scale will not only capture market share but also shape consumption patterns of the Future.”