November 2025 | 735 words | 2-minute read
As the stillness of night dissolves into the gentle glow of daybreak, and the world slowly stirs from its slumber, a familiar ritual unfolds each morning across millions of Indian households.
Amid the soft rustle of the newspaper mingling with the delicate sip — or even the occasional slurp —of a steaming cup of tea, your hand reaches, almost by habit, for a packet of crunchy rusk — your favourite tea-time companion. Disappointment is often quick to follow. For the rusk crumbles when dipped in tea, creating a messy and unpleasant experience. Alarmingly, most consumers are unaware that leading rusk brands contain over 60% maida — low in fibre and detrimental to gut health. Identifying a clear gap for a nutritious, better-for-you alternative, it was in this ₹9,000+ crore rusk category with a 12% YoY growth rate that Tata Soulfull introduced India’s first rusk made without maida —aptly named No Maida Rusk.
“We always have on been on the mission of taking nutrition to grassroots at affordable price points and accessible touch points. Our intent was to build a brand where health is not just for the privileged, health is for everybody in this country. This could only come about with the credibility and trust that the Tata Group has as a brand and the superior millet technology, which we have invested in over a period of 12 years,” says Rasika Prashant, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Soulfull. She adds, “We wanted to really offer something better for you, to make a difference to the consumer, and hence, we created a disruptive product like No Maida Rusk. Most importantly, Tata Tea is the second largest tea brand in the country. No other competitor has the advantage that we have since we already have a lot of hyperlocal strength and brand love from tea consumers. The synergy was just brilliant.”
Innovating at full throttle
“Tata Consumer Products (TCP) follows a very rapid innovation model. From inception to launch, we take about six to seven months maximum. We are bullish about innovations because we believe that innovations lead to disruptions and disruptions get companies to make a difference in the fast-growing consumer environment, especially in a developing economy,” says Ms Prashant.
TCP’s commitment to strengthening its R&D capabilities through science-backed disruptive innovation led to a significant breakthrough. Replacing maida with a combination of wheat flour and 16% precision-milled jowar, the R&D team leveraged its state-of-the-art in-house millet processing technology and collaborated with food scientists from the Indian Institute of Millets Research & the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics to achieve the right particle size of wheat flour and jowar identical to maida. This resulted in the perfect rusk consistency, delivering optimal texture, even bake, and low crumble, by combining taste and health. “We processed jowar in a way which gives you the same consistency of a maida rusk without maida,” explains Ms Prashant. “Millets give a better crunch, better crumble. We were able to introduce special enzymes to deliver product superiority, which makes our rusk bind better, making it a low crumble, crispy and superior product, which has the same dough and product crunchiness that maida would provide. We stayed true to our architecture that we cannot use artificial preservatives or chemicals,” she says. The tailored enzyme mix not only enhanced fermentation, but also improved dough handling, browning, dough rise, softness and texture, and improved crispiness, resulting in the right texture and bite.
Brewing a new chapter
Consumer work on No Maida Rusk began in October 2023, and within a span of just nine months, it was launched in the Central zone. This was followed by a rollout in the East, South and West zones. “We have not spent on mainstay television media but instead have used Manoj Bajpayee’s persona and the ‘Har Chai ko Apni Chai Banaye’ campaign to complement our brand and have done an extensive digital marketing campaign,” says Ms Prashant. She adds, “We have launched in e-commerce, and have got a fantastic response. Modern trade is next as we speak. We are also launching in the UAE market, which is our first international launch. As we go forward, we are looking at building more consistency.” With No Maida Rusk now available in more than a million households, tea-time snacking is reaching a whole new level of goodness.
- Sharmistha Choudhury
