Packaged food products positioned around transparent and healthier ingredient claims are seeing a sharp rise in consumer demand, with sales increasing by 50–60% year-on-year over the past two months, according to executives at online and physical retail chains.
The trend comes even as India’s proposed front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPL) system has not yet been enforced. Consumers are increasingly examining ingredient and nutrition information, with retailers reporting continued growth even for premium-priced products that communicate health-related attributes more clearly.
Nishant Dalal, vice-president at Flipkart overseeing consumables, FMCG and healthcare, said consumers are increasingly upgrading to products that are transparent about their ingredient claims, including brands that provide limited claims on the front of the pack or more detailed nutrition information on the back. He said the platform is seeing sustained growth rather than the earlier pattern in which consumer interest in such brands flattened after an initial period.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed a single-phase rollout of front-of-pack labelling before the Supreme Court. Under the proposal, packaged foods would carry red hexagonal warnings indicating high levels of sugar, salt or fats. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the matter on September 28, 2026.
The growing focus on transparency is also being reflected in consumer purchasing behaviour. Arvind Mediratta, founder of Elixiir Foods, which operates gourmet food stores under FreshTerra, said consumers are engaging more deeply with food products when transparency and freshness are visible, while “guilt-free” snacks have emerged among the stores' best-selling categories.
Packaged food brands are increasingly using claims such as “good for gut”, “no artificial colours” and “with millets”, even though prominent front-of-pack declarations on sugar, salt or fat have not yet become mandatory. A quick-commerce executive cited in the report said the platform has recorded a sharp increase in demand for products making some form of healthy-ingredient claim over the past two months.
The trend is also evident in the children's nutrition segment. A recent Farmley Healthy Snacking report found that 60% of parents are willing to pay more for healthier snacks for their children, pointing to growing premiumisation in kids' nutrition.
The same report found that 86% of consumers consider protein an important factor when buying snacks, while more than six in ten consumers prefer snacks sweetened with natural ingredients such as dates and jaggery instead of sugar.
Meanwhile, FSSAI has increased its enforcement focus on food labelling and claims. The regulator has issued notices to more than 150 food and beverage makers in recent months, according to the Economic Times report.
For the packaged food industry, the emerging trend indicates that consumer attention toward ingredients, nutrition information and product claims is increasing even before a mandatory front-of-pack warning system is implemented.
Source: Dairynews7x7 25 Sep, 2026 Read full story here
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