The 1…2…3 meal
The RTE food segment though a tempting ground to step
in, has its share of challenges. Aditi Gangavkar talks to few
established players and finds out how they have coped
Today, with life moving into the fast
lane, anything and everything that has
been able to keep pace with time has
emerged as a winner. But is this theory
applicable to the Indian food industry? A
wiser and perhaps the easiest way to answer
this question would be to take a closer look at
the changing face of food markets across
India. What we see is mind-boggling! 'Readyto-
eat/serve/cook' food categories have been
fast filling the store shelves. Thanks to the
'convenience' factor, these products have
found easy access into our kitchens. However,
it goes without saying that the 'fast food'
fixation has not been confined to a select few
products. In fact, it has spread across
categories, from breakfast to dinner. Let's us
look at how the major brands have fared.
It's all about tradition
Parampara Foods, an early bird in the Indian
Ready-to-cook spices market introduced five
varieties of its gravy mixes way back in 1996.
These initial offerings had a shelf life of two
months only and were oddly packed in 135
gm pouches. Moreover, it wasn't an easy ride
for them. "To convince people that almost an
hour of cooking in the kitchen can be
substituted for 10 minutes of smart working,
to prepare a wholesome meal, was a major
problem faced in the initial days," says Amit
Chillal, Partner, Parampara Foods. Thus, the
company's main marketing energy was spent
on selling the concept before it sold any of
their products. Also, a pre-conceived
consumer notion that any convenience
brought to the kitchen brings along with it
compromises in taste and quality, posed a
bigger problem. "Here, the only solution was
to make potential customers taste the
product. Hence, demonstrations and wetsampling
exercise were undertaken and
customers were educated on the product’s
freshness and natural nature," Mr Chillal
recalls. "Then again, convincing the
customers about the goodness of the product
is easier than convincing the shopkeepers and
the distributors to have a new product in their
range. During the launch, the product
category was altogether different and nobody
was willing to experiment. We started off with
only few shops and heavy margins to gain
entry. Our distributors too weren’t well
known, most of them have started their
career in distribution with
our product. This helped
us in a big way, since we
had young distributors
with confidence in
the product," Mr
Chillal asserts.
Next in line was the
challenge of offering
mixes that suit regional
variations in tastes and
flavour. Accordingly, the
....C
O N T D
TO
READ FURTHER... SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR
COPY TODAY!!!
