Mission Millets: ITC Joins The Movement To Popularize Millets

According to Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Puri, in an effort to establish millets as a staple cereal like wheat and rice, ITC Ltd. is incorporating them into the majority of its packaged food items and has begun serving millet-based dishes in its chain of hotels.

This is a component of the conglomerate's "Mission Millet" plan, which it will implement across all millets-containing goods as a branding initiative. The company will bring out 100% millet products across different categories.

As per the media reports, Puri said that there has to be an increase in food supplies due to the negative effects that climate change and harsh weather will have on conventional agricultural cycles.

While a number of millet-based items, such as ragi flour, gluten-free atta, and multi-millet mix, have previously been introduced, ITC is still working to build a comprehensive mill-based portfolio under well-known brand names and in recognizable formats to facilitate easier acceptance. Millet-based noodles, pasta, dosa, and idli mix vermicelli, as well as multi-millet-based biscuits, confectionery, and snacks, will be among the goods that are introduced.

In an effort to get into the Rs 4-lakh-crore industry, ITC is expanding its entire millets-based portfolio, similar to other FMCG brands. He was seen stating  about the products they are lining up for table including millet-based pasta and noodles under the YiPPee! brand, ragi vermicelli, multi-millet dosa mix, multi-millet and rava idli mix under the Aaashirvaad brand, 100% multi-millet-based cookies under the Sunfeast brand, millet choco-stick confectionery under the Candyman Fantastik brand, and millet-based snacks under Bingo.

Through farmer-producer organisations (FPOs), ITC will create integrated millet value chains and is hoping to collaborate with 20 of them on millets. The business also disclosed that 7,000 acres of cropland have been planned for the mission's initial phase; this size will be increased dependent on demand. It is searching for  direct procurement from farmers.

The company is now sourcing its millets from three states: Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh, focusing on the major millets (jowar, bajra, and sorghum) and minor millets (foxtail, small millets). In collaboration with the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Hyderabad, and the Government of Andhra Pradesh, respectively, the company's agribusiness section has carried out two PPP projects, one in Maharashtra and the other in Andhra Pradesh.