Premium Staples Face Their Next Growth Test

Atta, oil, ghee, salt. These are staples that no one really considers twice before buying. Yet a growing crop of brands is asking Indian households to reconsider what they are buying, and many are going back to the roots to do that. 

The pitch for these staples brands rests on familiar products made differently, such as freshly milled flour, cold-pressed oil or ghee made using traditional methods. For the buyer, the question is straightforward. Does that difference justify a higher grocery bill or is shopping in the regular aisle still the way to go?

Pretty much everything earns a place in the modern kitchen because of taste, health quotient or a trusted source. A household may experiment with one brand for a month, but making that a habit is hard. And this is particularly true for staples, because most people do not tinker with the basics and the foundation of their kitchen. 

This is the biggest challenge for brands such as Anveshan, Barosi, Gramiyaa, Two Brothers Organic Farms, Khetika, Akshayakalpa Organic, Sid’s Farm, KisaanSay and others that are looking to change the equation. 

There’s a big gap between customers trying something and sampling a new brand and becoming loyal to one brand. Bridging this gap is central to the next phase of growth. 

Many of them have found buyers on quick commerce and other modern trade channels. Their bigger ambitions now depend on getting more households to keep choosing them.

The money backing those ambitions is substantial.

Funding rounds reported in 2026 across Zoff, KisaanSay, Anveshan, Anmasa, Sid’s Farm, Doodhvale Farms and Indic Wisdom together amounted to roughly ₹335 Cr in disclosed venture and debt funding, including Anmasa’s January bridge round.

Rosier Foods and Khetika also raised capital without disclosing amounts.

Much of that capital is going into manufacturing, procurement, testing and distribution. Scaling this category requires brands to build the capacity to deliver the same quality across more kitchens.

The revenue targets are getting bigger too. At its June fundraise, Anveshan claimed an annual revenue run rate of ₹280–₹300 Cr and aimed to cross ₹1,000 Cr over the following 24–30 months. 

Khetika, which reported ₹247 Cr in FY25 revenue, outlined a ₹2,000 Cr ambition over the next two to three years in March. Those targets suggest confidence that sourcing and quality can support much larger businesses.

Established players and legacy giants are expanding their presence too. Tata Sampann crossed ₹1,500 Cr in FY26 revenue, growing 46% across its portfolio, while LT Foods’ Daawat launched an organic rice range in January. Brands are also finding ways to fit more naturally into household shopping. Organic Tattva introduced larger packs in July, including three-litre cooking oils and one-litre A2 cow ghee, positioned around convenience and better value.

Those ambitions raise a harder question. How many households can afford the premium every month?

Nikhil Sethi, partner and head of consumer goods at KPMG in India, cautioned, “Premiumisation is working, but the opportunity is often overstated. The number of households that can consistently spend meaningfully more on groceries remains relatively small, although this segment is growing quickly and has significant spending power.”

The growth test, then, is not simply whether brands can win more buyers. It is whether those buyers reorder at a price that works for both the household and the business. That requires a clear reason to pay more, consistent quality as volumes rise, and enough margin after acquiring and serving each customer.

Making The Premium Worth Repeating

Pranav Pai, founding partner and chief investment officer, 3one4 Capital, argues that a brand earns the right to charge more when the buyer can verify its promise in everyday use.

“Provenance, a known and traceable source. Freshness, a real cold chain and shorter time to plate. Processing integrity, cold-pressing, clean labels, no adulteration. And functionality, an outcome the household can feel,” he added.

These attributes are shaping different propositions within the same kitchen basket. Anmasa, for instance, offers made-to-order flour from more than 30 grains, allowing customers to customise blends. Its pitch starts with something households already buy, then gives them more control over what goes into it. 

In July, after its fundraise, the company claimed a roughly 50% repeat purchase rate within 90 days, with repeat customers contributing 70% of D2C revenue. Those are company-reported figures, but they offer a useful measure of whether customers are buying into the proposition beyond the first order.

For Gramiyaa, the proposition centres on the cooking oil itself and the evidence behind it. The brand controls sourcing and pressing, tests batches in its own laboratory and provides QR codes through which customers can access batch-specific test reports. That gives a shopper something to check alongside the promise on the bottle.

The difference matters because some qualities are easier to experience than others. But as Pai cautioned, “Organic on its own tends to stall, because the difference is invisible in use while the price gap is large.” 

Satyajit Hange, cofounder, Two Brothers Organic Farms, sees the same shift towards benefits consumers can understand, from traditional grain varieties to clearer sourcing and processing. But interest alone is not enough. “The real test is whether the consumer comes back and makes it part of their routine,” he said. For a staple, the benefit has to matter at the next meal and the next grocery purchase.

The Cost Of Reaching More Kitchens

Delivering that benefit at scale brings a second test. Can brands keep the premium affordable without compromising the product or their margins?

Arvind Mediratta, founder and CEO, Elixiir Foods, which operates omnichannel grocery distribution chain FreshTerra, identifies the price gap and the cost of selling online as the main bottlenecks.

“Pure-play online models are often trapped because high customer acquisition costs, repetitive ad spends, and courier logistics on bulky, heavy items force them to inflate retail prices simply to break even,” he said.

In his assessment, reaching more middle- and upper-middle-class households requires a smaller mark-up, supported by opportunities to discover products in stores and fulfil orders locally.

Competition adds another pressure. KPMG’s Sethi expects established FMCG companies to bring premium attributes to more accessible price points.

“Large FMCG companies will increasingly create ‘mass-premium’ products that bring premium cues to a much larger audience, while specialist brands continue serving the top end of the market,” he said.

Challenger brands need an advantage that goes beyond a label another company can reproduce. 

Pranav Pai points to direct customer relationships, trust built through repeat purchases and the physical supply chain. These can reduce dependence on paid acquisition and take time for competitors to build. “In fresh and perishable staples, sourcing, cold chain and consistent quality at scale are genuinely hard to replicate, and that difficulty is itself the moat.” 

But lower-priced alternatives from larger companies can introduce more consumers to the category, which is a win for D2C brands. If a larger player launches a similar-looking product at a lower price, it can actually help expand consumer awareness of the category. But new brands still need to show why buyers should choose their version over a cheaper alternative.

The evidence behind those promises matters too. Sethi said premium buyers research, compare and evaluate claims more carefully than mainstream consumers. That scrutiny now extends to regulators. 

Inc42 reported in September that at least 20 new-age food brands had received FSSAI notices since May 2026 over labelling and advertising claims. The report also described scrutiny of claims on legacy brands such as Dabur’s honey, ghee and cooking oils. These notices concern disputed claims, rather than final findings of wrongdoing, but underline the need to substantiate the language used to justify a premium.

For brands, making prices more accessible cannot come at the expense of the sourcing, testing and production that justify the premium. Distribution can put a product within reach. Consistent quality and workable margins determine whether it stays there.

Categories that offer an external push for consumers to switch are best suited as targets for new brands. FreshTerra’s Mediratta sees room in fresh protein with clearer sourcing, speciality flours and dairy staples. 

But a larger premium staples market will still be built category by category. Hange cautions against putting a single percentage on how much of India’s basket will trade up. Income, geography and the product itself will shape that choice, and it cannot be forced pan-India. Brands can expect adoption to trickle down from metros, as usual. 

Even without assuming every household will replace its entire grocery basket, there’s a lot of room to grow as the number of new brands highlight, plus the investor confidence remains high in this category. 

SPOTLIGHT | HOW ROOTED IS SOLVING HOME GARDENING BRAMBLE

• Rooted positions itself as a one-stop solution for plant needs, equipment and related services. Besides plants and planters, its portfolio includes DIY gardening kits, plant bundles, gift plants and gift cards, and pots in fibre, ceramic and jute, including self-watering ones. 
• Plants can be browsed by placement (low light, well lit, balcony), by buyer experience level (beginner to expert), and by features such as air-purifying or auspicious plants. The company claims to sell through its own site, quick commerce platforms and marketplaces.
• It also  runs a services layer on top of retail — corporate gifting, landscaping and the “Rooted Living” subscription. The company says it has begun plant decor subscriptions for homes and offices, and it pitches personalised plant hampers as a way to normalise green gifting.

THE DEEP DIVE 

ECOMMERCE BUZZ

• Nykaa’s Q2 Vision: The beauty ecommerce giant has projected strong business momentum in its Q2 FY27 update. It is expecting the GMV to grow  in the high twenties, while net sales value (NSV) growth is expected to be in the early thirties. The company expects its consolidated net revenue to grow in the late twenties in Q2 FY27, with both its beauty and fashion businesses contributing to the growth.
• SBI Bets On Swiggy: SBI Mutual Fund acquired an additional 1.18 Cr equity shares of Swiggy via an open market transaction last week. Back then, the shares were worth around ₹300 Cr. Following the purchase, its total shareholding in Swiggy rose to 14.16 Cr equity shares or around 5.1% of Swiggy’s total equity.  
• ITC Snaps Up Yoga Bar: FMCG major ITC completed 100% acquisition of healthy snacking brand Yoga Bar after purchasing an additional 52.5% stake for around ₹645 Cr last week. ITC bought 13,445 equity shares of the parent entity Sproutlife Foods through a secondary purchase.
• Balwaan Krishi Bags ₹100 Cr: The agritech startup raised ₹100 Cr in its Series B funding round to scale manufacturing of agricultural equipment like power sprayers,rice mills, oils and more. Its products are priced between ₹10,000 and ₹1 Lakh, targeting small and marginal farmers for whom larger machinery may be too expensive or unsuitable.  

THE OPERATOR QUESTION

When Should A Premium Staples Brand Add Its Next Category?

After winning buyers for ghee or oil, adding more staples can seem natural. Durlabh Rawat, Cofounder, Barosi, says broader portfolios can reach ₹1000 Cr revenue faster, but bring greater challenges. Three considerations matter:

Long-term positioning: A focused brand can build recall around one category. A broader brand can serve more of the kitchen basket. New launches should reinforce the identity the business wants to build.

Distribution opportunity: Quick commerce creates space for newer brands to establish themselves within categories. Entering now can help build a relevant position, provided availability and product performance sustain it.

Depth versus complexity: Staying focused allows more investment in science, research and product development. Expansion adds suppliers, production processes and quality checks. The supply chain must grow alongside the portfolio, while protecting the consistency customers expect.

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