Here’s how India Gate is planning to become a complete kitchen staple brand over the next 5–10 years

If you’ve ever eaten biryani, pulao, or any rice dish, chances are India Gate is a familiar name, a brand that has led the basmati rice category in India for decades.

Now, the company is expanding beyond rice. From masalas to edible oils, India Gate is entering new categories with the aim of becoming a broader kitchen staple.

In this conversation, Brand Communion speaks to Kunal Sharma, Vice President at KRBL Limited, about the company’s category expansion, the strategy behind it, and how its marketing approach is evolving.

Edited excerpts

Q: How is India Gate identifying new growth opportunities beyond basmati rice, and what’s guiding your expansion into adjacent categories?

There are a few key adjacency vectors we are exploring as a company. While our core business remains rice, we’re also expanding within rice into regional variants that are part of daily staples.

One major direction is the health and proactive wellness space. Under this, we launched a new brand called UpLife, starting with edible oils. The idea is to cater to a younger, more health-conscious India that is actively looking for functional foods.

Everything we do here comes with a value addition. For instance, we introduced a gut health oil,something that aligns with emerging consumer trends. We also launched a controlled oil dispensing bottle exclusively with Swiggy. Similarly, in rice, we introduced a low-GI variant for consumers who are conscious about carbohydrate intake.

Q: Since all these categories target conscious consumers, would it be fair to say they are more focused on metro audiences compared to your core rice business?

Yes, that’s largely true. Our strength as a brand has historically been more metro-focused, given the nature of the category and packaging.

However, we also realized that these newer propositions couldn’t sit directly under the India Gate master brand. That’s why we created a sub-brand architecture to house them.

Q: You’ve also entered the spices segment. What’s the strategy there?

In spices, we are focusing on value-added and authenticity-driven offerings, rather than entering the commoditized plain spice segment.

Our positioning is not just convenience, but authenticity. While convenience is a growing trend, especially in metro cities, consumers still want involvement in cooking particularly post-COVID. That’s why ready-to-cook formats are seeing strong growth.

We started with biryani masala, which was a natural extension for us, and have since expanded into more variants. The idea is to build on our core equity and extend it into authentic spice offerings.

Q: How do you measure success in a relatively new category like biryani masala?

Since this is still an evolving category, traditional metrics don’t always apply. Our initial focus was on distribution, pricing, and consumer trials.

We’ve successfully placed the product across modern trade and e-commerce platforms and invested heavily in sampling. This has resulted in good repeat purchases.

In terms of market share, in the stores where we are present, we’ve reached around 5–10% within the biryani masala segment. But more importantly, we are now focusing on scaling awareness to grow further.

Q: You mentioned leveraging India Gate’s expertise for new categories. Does that primarily mean distribution strength?

Distribution is one aspect, but more importantly, it’s about consumer trust and brand acceptance.

In staples like atta, besan, or maida, consumers naturally expect a brand like India Gate to deliver quality. Our strength lies in quality, trust, and consistency these are transferable equities.

We’re also taking a phased approach testing categories in specific regions before scaling nationally.

Q: Your larger vision seems to be becoming a complete kitchen staple brand. What’s the timeline for that?

It’s definitely a 5–10 year journey. For a brand that has spent over 25 years building leadership in a single category, expanding into multiple categories requires a mindset shift, new capabilities, and continuous learning.

Q: Many brands are using quick commerce as a testing ground for new launches. How are you approaching this?

Quick commerce is important, but it comes with limitations, especially in discovery and storytelling. Consumers are highly intent-driven and spend very little time on the platform.

Ideally, the journey should start with e-commerce, followed by modern trade, quick commerce, and then general trade. However, given consumer behavior today, quick commerce cannot be ignored.

That said, modern retail still offers the best environment for new product discovery because of the physical experience and time spent by consumers.

Q: You’ve relied more on influencers and UGC rather than celebrities for new categories. What’s the thinking there?

We look at celebrities from two lenses scale and credibility. For newer categories, especially at an early stage, influencer-led strategies often drive better engagement and persuasion.

We’ve observed that smaller, more relatable creators sometimes deliver stronger impact than large influencers. For now, we don’t see a strong need for celebrity endorsements in these categories.

Q: How are you allocating your marketing budgets today?

There has been a significant shift towards digital and retail media. Today, about 50% of our marketing spends go into digital platforms, connected TV, influencers, and retail media, while the remaining 50% is in traditional media.

Retail media, in particular, is becoming very important because it allows us to target consumers closer to the point of purchase.

Q: Are you exploring sports marketing, like IPL or other live sports?

Not actively at this stage. For us, any large-scale investment like sports needs to align strongly with a central campaign idea and brand objective.

Since we are currently focused on multiple initiatives across categories, sports hasn’t been a priority yet.

Q: Unbranded rice still dominates a large part of the market. How are you tackling that competition?

Unbranded rice is largely driven by value-for-money behavior.

To convert those consumers, we focus on three things:

1. Distribution expansion, especially in general trade
2. Presence in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets
3. Clear value propositions, such as no adulteration and aged rice quality

Additionally, we build emotional connections because in staple categories, emotional messaging often works better than purely functional communication.