India's changing consumer tastes boost makers of branded rice

Mumbai

FOR Mumbai homemaker Sonali Ray, buying basmati rice until a year ago was a leap of faith. It often meant a silent prayer for grain free of weevils and stones from her neighbourhood grocer. Not anymore. These days she walks into a swanky supermarket and picks up a neat, branded 5-kilogram pack. And, she doesn't mind paying 20 per cent more.

"I am assured of the quality and I know what I am paying for even if it's a bit expensive," Ms Ray, 36, said. "Adulteration is a big issue."

The changing profile of consumers in India is fuelling a stock rally in local producers of branded rice as rising incomes and the shift to modern convenience stores from grimy mom-and-pop shops s…