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Transforming Millet Consumption: Strategies for market engagement and technology integration

Innovative strategies are needed to revitalise millets as a modern dietary solution, addressing urban health challenges while promoting sustainability and economic growth through tech-driven supply chains and consumer education

By ISB

Published: Jul 28, 2025 11:46:09 AM IST

Updated: Jul 28, 2025 11:52:59 AM IST

These ancient grains are nutrient-rich, climate-resilient and well-suited to India's agro-climatic conditions. Image: Shutterstock

Economic and demographic developments in India's urban areas have led to drastic lifestyle and dietary changes. The urban population is facing a growing nutritional crisis due to deficiencies in essential micronutrients, leading to increased prevalence of chronic diseases. Despite the abundance of food, the quality of nutrition has declined, largely due to the dominance of refined carbohydrates and processed foods. This has led to the widespread prevalence of chronic diseases, underscoring the urgency of addressing micronutrient deficiencies.

Amidst this crisis, millets, once a staple in Indian diets, offer a promising solution. These ancient grains are nutrient-rich, climate-resilient and well-suited to India's agro-climatic conditions. However, their consumption has declined due to changing food preferences and a lack of accessibility. The challenge lies in repositioning millets as aspirational, convenient and accessible, especially for urban consumers.

The Larger Problem in India: Nutritional Deficiencies and Unhealthy Diets

The dietary palate of urban Indians has undergone a rapid transition, with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains giving way to processed and refined foods loaded with high carbs and trans fats, leading to nutrient deficiency. Also, a fast-paced lifestyle is adding to the Increased prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and cardiovascular defects, straining the healthcare systems. Rising healthcare costs and economic losses from reduced workforce productivity have deleterious effects on a country's GDP and fiscal stability. Although turning to supplements and other medications may have alleviated the symptoms, the root cause, i.e., nutritional deficiency, remains unaddressed.

The solution to the above problem is simple: Millets. Due to their high nutritional properties, millets were part of the daily diet and were highly regarded in ancient India. They are well-suited for the country's climatic conditions.

Despite their nutritional richness, millets face scepticism rooted in taste, quality perception, and cultural bias. Urban consumers accustomed to polished grains and global cuisines may find millet dishes less appealing unless innovatively presented.

Why Millets? The Nutritional and Agricultural Solution

Millets are packed with essential micronutrients, including iron, zinc, calcium and various vitamins, surpassing the nutritional profile of rice and wheat. Moreover, they are rich in fibre, protein, have a low glycaemic index, and are high in antioxidants—an ideal solution to the urban nutritional crisis.

Millet production has a broader impact extending beyond nutrition. They can thrive in drought-prone areas without the use of chemical fertilisers or pesticides, leading to sustainable and low-cost farming practices. Millet's nutrient quality can be enhanced through biofortification, which involves increasing the levels of essential micronutrients, thereby making millets more effective in combating malnutrition.

To promote millet consumption, barrier like coarse texture and an unfamiliar taste needs urgent attention. Accessibility and availability of Millet products dent their appeal. Millet benefit awareness is missing due to a lack of education and marketing. Weak supply chain infrastructure, coupled with storage and transportation issues, poses another barrier.

Also read: Why India should lead the millet revolution

Although the link between millets and better health is clear, policy and market support need to catch up. Revolutionising millet production is essential to improve health and support sustainable farming.

Business Opportunity: Connecting the Nutritional Dots through a Modern Millet Brand

Ready-to-eat (RTE) millet products tailored for the urban population are the need of the hour. A combination of nutritional benefits of biofortified millets and the convenience demanded by busy lifestyles. It is a perfect solution for the time-starved, malnourished urban consumer. Biofortified millets enhance micronutrient levels at the seed level, reducing reliance on supplements.

This Product can have direct connections to the farmers via decentralised processing units. This will encourage local sourcing and entrepreneurship, ensuring the freshest produce and maintaining transparency in the supply chain. A farm-to-fork strategy will promote sustainable farming practices, minimise processing, and raise awareness of millet's benefits.

Through a strong digital presence, products can be made appealing. The product details will be transparent and traceable through QR codes, which can provide access to the origin and nutritional information using blockchain technology. Product certifications will add authenticity, building loyalty through honesty and transparency.

Leveraging Supply Chain and Technology for Impact

The farm-to-fork supply chain model helps in setting up Village Collection Centres (VCCs) and decentralised Primary Processing Units (PPUs), ensuring quality and traceability. This would facilitate direct procurement from farmers, reducing the need for intermediaries and ensuring fair prices, while driving rural prosperity. Processing units near farms will minimise transportation costs and post-harvest losses, while cold storage facilities would extend shelf life and preserve nutritional value.

Blockchain-based QR codes would enable consumers to trace the origin, nutritional content, and processing methods, thereby building trust and transparency. WhatsApp-based forecasting AI bots provide farmers with predictive insights on weather, pricing and sowing schedules, enhancing decision-making and reducing crop failure.

Biofortified millets can be reimagined into ready-to-eat products, helping consumers combat chronic diseases, while also benefiting from eco-friendly packaging, tech-efficient farming, and supply chain optimisation, which strengthen environmental sustainability. This will empower farmers, nurture consumer well-being and accelerate a socially impactful shift.

Driving Consumer Adoption through Education and Trust

Addressing consumer scepticism and awareness gaps will help drive the adoption of millets in urban diets. Educating consumers on the benefits of biofortified millet and the science behind it through explainer videos, millet meal integration demonstrations, Influencer collaborations, and nutritionist endorsements will lend credibility, emphasising authenticity and expertise.

Adopting a digital-first, direct-to-consumer (D2C) approach, leveraging social media, blogs, e-commerce platforms and Pop-Up sampling events to build awareness and drive sales. QR-enabled transparency, mentioned earlier, and certifications will build trust. This will shift the perception, making millet aspirational rather than antiquated.

The Impact of a Business-led Solution: Broader Benefits

Millets can catalyse social change. It will improve public health immensely by encouraging people to cultivate healthier eating habits, and also help in sustainable farming practices. An increase in demand for millets will encourage rural entrepreneurship through stable income opportunities. Employment opportunities, including those for women, are generated in the farming and processing sectors, promoting gender inclusion. Additionally, biofortified millets command assured higher margins and access to premium markets.

Due to their attractiveness, the biofortified millet product value chain can be implemented in other regions of the world. Agri-tech startups, farmers, academia, policymakers, retailers and impact investors can all amplify the impact of millets. The millet-based brand can build a movement around nutrition, sustainability, and inclusive growth.

Future Outlook: Pathways to Scale and Sustainability

As the urban population embraces wellness and sustainability, millet-based products are poised to become mainstream dietary staples, fueling long-term health commitments and leading to agricultural resilience. Millets-based products address critical gaps in essential nutrients, positioning them as core solutions to chronic diseases. Also, value chains rooted in fair procurement to uplift farmers will create scalable income opportunities.

Government policies, public health programs, and eco-conscious retail can further accelerate the integration of millet across institutional and household settings. With innovation in culinary formats, robust supply chains, and aspirational branding, millets-based products can transition from niche grains to essential food, enabling nourishment for the urban population, revitalising farms, and leading a global food revolution built on resilience and inclusivity. Public-private partnerships will further improve scalability via joint investments and shared expertise, along with the necessary research and development required to meet evolving consumer needs and sustainability.

India's urban nutrition crisis needs an urgent attention. Millets offer that rare convergence of tradition, science and opportunity. Millet-based products are nutrient rich, environment friendly. The advantages are endless; not only are millet-based products scalable, but there is also an opportunity for supply chain transparency and the enhancement of modern methods, such as biofortification. They are ideal for meeting today's health and market demands.

These ancient grains are key to our future nutrition and hold tremendous potential. Support from the government, entrepreneurs, and investors is crucial to further exploring the benefits of millets. Millet is not just food for thought; it's food for transformation.

Acknowledgement: This article is based on research conducted by Indian School of Business (ISB) students as part of the Action Learning Project of the Emerging Leaders Programme at ISB's Executive Education.

About the Authors

Anjal Prakash is a Clinical Associate Professor (Research) and Research Director at Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business (ISB). He teaches sustainability at ISB.

Goma Joshi, Real Estate Professional with 19 years of experience, having expertise in strategic planning, end-to-end project coordination, stakeholder alignment, and process optimisation.

Ponmalar Jagannathan, COO at SlideXpress, leverages strategic insights from global companies to lead B2B design solutions with operational finesse and creative vision.

Akshay Kore, author of Designing Human-Centric AI Experiences, is a product and design leader at Suki.AI, known for building intuitive AI systems and mentoring future innovators through his 'Design for AI' courses at IIT Bombay and IIM Bangalore.

Ankit Taneja, a Chemical Engineer from IP University Delhi with a PG in Petroleum & Energy Management, brings 14 years of Sales and Marketing expertise across the Oil & Gas and Logistics sectors.

Naresh Kumar Vemulapalli has over two decades of global experience, leading high HP tractor product planning at Mahindra & Mahindra. He leverages his cross-continental expertise in marketing, engineering, and analytics to transform agri-tech and mobility solutions.

Prakash Jayadevan, with 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, ranging from chef to operations head, now leads execution for a hospitality firm and empowers future professionals through his training platform, Hoteltutor.

Shyam Sunder Avunoori, a chemical engineering expert with over 16 years of experience in India's top pharmaceutical firms, excels in process development, scale-up, technology transfer, and manufacturing operations, consistently driving innovation and operational efficiency.

[This article has been reproduced with permission from the Indian School of Business, India]