Marico, one of India’s leading FMCG companies, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NUTRIHUB and Indian Institute of Millets Research (Under Indian Council of Agricultural research) for two years. The MoU, signed during the International Year of Millets, aims to increase research, development, and training collaboration in millets processing and value addition.

The MoU was signed between Dr. B Dayakar Rao , PS and chief executive officer, Nutrihub, ICAR-IIMR and Dr. Shilpa Vora, chief research and development officer, Marico in the presence of G Kamala Vardhana Rao, IAS, chief executive officer, FSSAI ,Food License Registration Services India. 

The United Nations has declared 2023 the International Year of Millets and millets have also been given a prominent place in the Union Budget for this year. This collaboration opens up new possibilities for innovating within the market to produce more millet-based products for consumers across India to meet all the taste preferences in the country.

Marico aims to promote millets through this partnership and its differentiated product offerings. Further, the MoU will help combine the R&D expertise of the two entities and help Marico expand its offerings of millets by experimenting with different recipes that can perfectly balance taste with health. This is also a milestone in the company’s efforts to expand its healthy foods portfolio, which currently includes products made with millet in the form of Saffola Oats Karara Crunch and Saffola Munchiez Ragi chips.

Speaking about the association, Dr Shilpa Vora, chief research & development officer, Marico, said, “India is one of the largest producers of millets and this association with NUTRIHUB and IIMR will further unlock the potential of millets and help in making millet-based products widely available in a variety of formats while balancing health and taste. With this partnership, we aim to create differentiated offerings with tasty yet healthy millets that can easily integrate with people’s lifestyles. This MoU will enable us to experiment more with millets and make the superfood more mainstream in the Indian diet in the long run.”

Commenting on the partnership, Dr. B Dayakar Rao, PS and chief executive officer, Nutrihub, ICAR-IIMR, said, “We are pleased to sign this MOU with Marico. Nutrihub is a focal point where ideas, entrepreneurs, agriprenuers, start-ups, experts, academia, and funding agencies gravitate towards creating a new knowledge-based economy. ICAR-IIMR through its TBI would like to contribute to the success of the National Innovation system by providing the right ambiance and infrastructure for nurturing innovation, technical skills and entrepreneurial talents of thousands of millets stakeholders and we believe this association with Marico will help achieve this. The year 2023 has been declared as the international year of the millet. Thus this MOU becomes very important for both the parties and for the overall economic development, farmer support and consumer delight. I congratulate the Marico team for taking this initiative and partnering with us.”