Dust of the sea, in you
the tongue receives a kiss
from ocean night:
taste imparts to every seasoned
dish your ocean essence;
the smallest,
miniature wave from the saltcellar
reveals to us
more than domestic whiteness;
in it, we taste infinitude.

—Ode To Salt, Pablo Neruda

If studies of a multi-disciplinary nature interest you, there is no subject more

ABANDON LIFEBELTS: A woman floats in the Dead Sea, which has a high saline content, and as a result, buoyancy

intriguing than salt. This common compound, also known as Sodium Chloride or NaCl, has a humble position on the periodic table, but it packs quite a punch. This is where chemistry meets history, theology meets culinary science, medicine meets art, and trade meets humanity. It is also perhaps the only element that binds mind, body, soul, society, polity, economy and environment.

On the one hand, salt has been considered an element with high healing and preserving properties. On the other, it has come to represent health hazards and lifestyle disorders in the contemporary context. There is a whole generation among us that has grown up thinking that salt will do our health no good. The constant flow of news and research on the dangers of high salt intake has made us overlook the need to maintain a balance.

This impression has, if anything, been reinforced further by the modern medical fraternity and the constant supply of medical data, particularly from the US, where per capita consumption of processed sodium is far higher than any other country. Whatever be the verdict on this debate, the truth is that salt is an essential part of our lives. Today, we use it for everything from preservation and pickling, stain removal and treating wounds to keeping flowers fresh and floors sparkling. In ancient times, it was far more valuable, even serving as a currency in some parts of the world.

The Dead Sea, between Israel and Jordan, symbolises the extremes that salt is known for. It has a salinity count of 30-35%, almost nine times more than other sea bodies. This makes it unfit for animals to survive or for ships to sail, hence earning it the name. It is said that a person cannot drown in this sea because of the high salt content, which provides the water with unusual buoyancy. On the other hand, the Dead Sea is famed as a life-giver, and is a source of therapeutic salts, balms and the like.

Today, salt, which plays such an important part in our daily lives, is coming into the limelight for the wrong reasons, like so many other essential commodities. Inflation has seen its price shoot up 10-22%, in both unbranded and branded categories, over the last 12 months. The poorest of the poor have, as usual, been hit the hardest, given that nearly all their income goes towards food. Salt was one item whose price hadn’t affected them too much in the past, considering that it has always been cheap and easily available.

Incredibly, over 70 million Indians suffer from iodine deficiency—a condition that can only be mitigated by iodised salt. Iodine deficiency can cause severe damage to foetuses and babies, giving rise to cretinism, stunting, deaf-mutism, spastic motor disorders, stillbirths, reproductive failure, poor vision, goitre, and mental and physical impairment. There are numerous programmes and schemes to fight this menace, but the results are far from satisfactory. One of the major reasons is failure to adopt scientific and modern methods of salt production. Unorganised, unbranded salt still dominates the majority of the market and most of it is insufficient in iodine.

Globally, the annual production of salt stands at 200 million tonnes; India is the third-largest producer, with 15 million tonnes. The chemical industry consumes the maximum amount of salt, converting it into chlorine, caustic ash and soda ash for petroleum refining, organic synthesis, glass production, and so on. This is followed by the common use of salt for cooking and other domestic purposes. A small amount is used for road de-icing, water treatment, production of cooling brines and other smaller applications.

India’s salt market is worth around Rs 1,500 crore. Almost 70% of the market is still unbranded and low cost. On the other side, Tata Salt has a market share of almost 40% of the branded market and 18% of the total salt market. The company is also the maker of India’s first branded salt.

Small mounds of salt from the seawater

Interestingly, the brand came into existence by chance, not by design. It so happened that Tata Chemicals had its largest integrated chemical plant in Mithapur, and the company’s soda ash plant needed fresh water for its boilers. In order to supply fresh water, Tata Chemicals started to distil seawater, and in the process, created high-quality salt as a by-product.

Nevertheless, marketing salt has innate challenges: it is an undifferentiated commodity with limited scope for product development. It is difficult to create newer categories apart from things like iodised or free-flowing salt. Companies will face problems of scale in making salt cubes, energy drinks or energy bars with extra sodium for a particular demographic. There is also a negative health perception attached to it, with the medical fraternity almost banning it at the dining table. Blood pressure and heart disease worries have taken precedence over energy, taste or other benefits of salt.

However, among the less-explored categories in the branded space in India are product extensions like bath salts, cleaning salts and multiple-use household salts. Marketers are left with little choice but to play up the value and benefit associated with the brand—credibility, high iodine, low cost, premium or even easy-to-store.