HUL plans a desi breakfast menu with khichdi, upma

A man arrives at the Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) headquarters in Mumbai May 14, 2013. Global companies betting on India's potential as a consumer market are looking beyond the worst patch in a decade for Asia's third-largest economy and investing billions of dollars in the country. In the biggest recent deal, Unilever is spending up to $5.4 billion to lift its stake in its Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Unilever, the country's largest consumer goods maker. Picture taken May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui (INDIA - Tags: BUSINESS) - RTXZOF7

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) is planning to launch traditional breakfast options such as khichdi and upma, The Economic Times reports.

The move is a departure from their previous strategy to introduce consumers to a global menu.

The new products will be launched under the company's ayurveda brand Ayush. The products will be made of jowar, bajra and other millets.

The products will give competition to the ready-to-cook breakfast products of MTR, Kellogg's, PepsiCo and Marico.

The brand will also provide stiff competition to Baba Ramdev's Patanjali, which plans to launch Indian breakfast products later this year, the report added. Patanjali already sells ready-to-eat oats and cornflakes.

"Lever Ayush Foods marks our entry into the health and naturals food segment. With our brand vision of traditional ingredients being made contemporary, we will be able to democratise the benefits of ayurveda-inspired recipes to the Indian consumer and do our part in making India healthy," Geetu Verma, executive director - foods at HUL, told The Economic Times. 

The company will address consumers' health concerns, which stem from the use of preservatives in packaged foods, the report added.

In India, consumers have been shifting from breakfast cereals to traditional breakfast choices.

The size of  the breakfast market in India is about Rs 3,000 crore, the reports said.