Mr. Kishorilal who owns a namkeen manufacturing unit at Kanpur and a Catering Services at Lucknow has very less to worry about the increasing prices and less availability of Potato as he has completely switched over to Vegit Potato Flakes for manufacture of Bhujias and namkeens. Earlier he used to buy raw potatoes from the local mandis and then boil, peel and convert the same into mash before using it in namkeens. For his catering unit he has started the usage of Vegit Instant Snack Mixes for serving Snacks at all his catering functions. At home he had introduced Vegit to his wife Preeti who now on visits to Big Bazaar regularly buys Vegit Aloo Mash for using in Aloo Parathas and other mashed potato dishes and for her children she buys the Vegit Aloo Cheese Balls and Veg Cutlets. She has also discovered that many of her friends in the locality have also started using the Vegit products after they had seen the Product being demonstrated and sampled at various Big Bazaar and other Food Service Outlets.

 

This the building of Vegit in the Indian Market wherein within a short span of 3 years Vegit has established its applications in various Food manufacturing segments, Food Service / HoReCa ( Hotels, Restaurants and Catering ) / Bakery outlets at both national and regional levels and household Domestic Consumers. When Merino setup an upscale manufacturing unit for Vegit potato flakes in the Indian market – the Indian market was very new to the concept of the Instant Potato Flakes. Internationally Instant Potato Flakes is a well accepted product category by both the Food Service and household consumers. In the Western countries Mashed Potato is a common staple diet among the households with famous Instant Mashed Potato Brands such as Smash and Idaho Instant Mashed Potato.

 

Smash is a brand of instant mashed potato in the United Kingdom. The preparation of Smash is extremely simple - the potato flakes are placed in a bowl and water is added and stirred producing mashed potato. Launched in the UK by Cadbury in the 1960s, Smash was reasonably successful. However, it was not until 1974 that Smash became popular in the convenience food market after Cadbury launched an advertising campaign featuring the now famous Smash Martians, who would watch humans preparing mashed potato the traditional way from potatoes instead of using potato flakes. The catchphrase 'For Mash Get Smash' is still a memorable advertising image among the western consumers.

But unlike in the western countries – in India consumers do not have mashed potato as a staple diet. Potatoes are boiled and mashed for making certain dishes such as Aloo Parathas, Cutlets, Tikkis, Kebabs, samosa etc. mostly in the northern region. But in other regions, the use of mashed potato has been limited to certain snacks such as Vada Pav & Aloo Bonda in the west and Masala Dosa in the south. Research indicated that the Domestic consumers will purchase on understanding the concept along with the comparative equivalent usage of potatoes. The route of Television / Mass Media to be adopted for creating the consumer awareness for the instant potato flakes was very costly and time consuming as the Indian consumer would easily buy a pack for trial but the time to make it a regular home consumption or become a loyal user would be a longer and lengthier haul. 

Hence to build the usage of Instant Potato Flakes at Homes the route taken for Vegit Potato Flakes was “To build the Vegit Brand and the usage of Instant Potato Flakes at Homes was through – Food Service”. This strategy of building the Vegit Potato Flakes brands through the Food Service involved the following steps:

1. Established the product usage and the Brand in the Food Service Channels: Vegit Instant Potato Flakes used the platform of Economy and Convenience in establishing itself in the Food Service outlets. The Vegit Food Service Chefs trained the Food Service Outlets in usage and showed the advantages of using Vegit Potato Flakes in comparison to cooking Raw Potatoes which were Economy, Versatility & Convenience, Hygiene, Shelf Life, Uniform Taste All The Year Round, Ease of Handling and Storage. In all communications and demonstrations at the Food Service outlets the brand – Vegit was prominent to establish the product superiority.
2. All possible promotional avenues at the Food Service Outlets which use Vegit Potato Flakes was explored and utilized in creating awareness of Vegit Instant Potato Flakes being used in the product offering. For example – at all McDonald’s outlets Vegit Potato Flakes was shown in the paid advertising walls as the ingredient used in the Burgers that the consumers were eating. This created an intrigue in the minds of the consumers having the Burgers at the McDonalds outlets resulting in getting more details from the stores and during product demos at the Retail stores. Apart from this there was participation in the Food festivals/theme festivals of the outlets featuring the Vegit potato flakes product offering. 
3. VEGIT provided the Indian housewives the best option of preparing mouth-watering traditional Indian Snacks. Vegit Instant Snack Mixes removed the housewife’s drudgery in the preparation of Indian Snacks at Home as it enabled the housewives in preparing and enjoying the Traditional Indian Snacks in a jiffy at home instead of undergoing the drudgery or buying it from the local eating joints. Vegit Snack Mixes incorporated the local flavour where the Snack is more popular or origins and is the complete concept ( from start to finish ) for preparation at home. This Vegit range of Instant Snack Mixes was the first of its kind in the traditional Indian Snack category and competed at home consumption only with the frozen snacks and those brought from the nearby restaurants. The complete Vegit range of Instant Snack Mixes was wholesome containing natural vegetables and consumes and contains lesser oil than the traditional snack foods.

The range of Vegit Instant Snack Mixes has been extended into the Food Service segment by the introduction of ONE Kg Food Service packs of all these Instant Snack Mixes. The most popular of the Vegit Instant Snack Mixes were Veg Cutlets, Aloo Cheese Balls, Harabhara Kebab, Burger Pattie, Veg Shammi Kebab and Pav Bhaji.

 

4. At all the Modern Retail outlets such as Hypermarkets, Cash & Carry stores, Gourmet stores regular product demonstrations were carried out to show the convenient usage of the Vegit Potato Flakes and the Vegit Instant Snack Mixes.

5. These in-store demonstrations were then followed up with engaging the consumers at various possible touchpoints such as demonstrations at Ladies kitty parties, Consumer Exhibitions and trade fairs. 

 

6. With the Vegit brand experienced by the Domestic consumers, the use of the costly mass media such as print and Television became very effective at low media investment and low frequency levels. 

Similar is the case with the Cheese Industry in the Indian Market even though India is today the world’s largest Dairy Country. Traditionally, India is not a cheese-consuming nation as the Indian consumer’s palate has been adapted to the softer Indian variant of cottage cheese called paneer. Cheese has been an alien product to the Indian Consumers. Even in a Dairy rich consuming state like Punjab, the taste of Cheese and Cheese products do not find any takers. Cheese, on the other hand, has distinct different flavor and taste, which to most Indian palates is relatively pungent. Till the late nineties the size of the Indian Cheese Industry was just Rs. 150 crores ( Rs.1.5 billion ) consisting of only the Domestic Consumer Retail segment and negligible Food Service segment. After that the growth in consumption of Cheese in the Food Service Sector / Out of Home consumptions through the Quick Service Restaurants, Pizza chains, Burgers, Sandwiches, Pasta and Indian recipes with Cheese; delivered the cheese flavour likeness to the Indian Consumers and Indian consumer started buying “Cheese and cheese products” for their in home consumptions. In a state like Gujarat Cheese is topped on to all major products and hence the high usage of Cheese in the Food Service has triggered the high usage of Cheese in Consumer homes.  Today the Cheese Market size in India is Rs. 1000 Crores of which the Domestic Retail Market segment is Rs. 450 Crores and the Food Service segment is Rs. 550 Crores. The Indian cheese industry has grown from strength to strength, due in part to the Out of Home lifestyle changes of the Indian middle class where ‘cheesy’ food items such as pizza, burgers, and sandwiches have replaced traditional meals to a great extent. Thus growth in the Cheese market has been primarily through the Food Service consumption which is more in the Metros and the Indian Cheese Market is restricted the Metros only of which 50% sales are from Delhi and Mumbai only. The brand which took advantage of the growth was the Dairy products leader – Amul and none of the brands which have been major suppliers to the Food Service Segments have been able to grow their domestic Retail share as opportunity of promoting the brand at the point of consumption or experience was not utilised.   

 

Product-wise, the global market deals in almost 3,000 varieties of cheese, whereas in India only about 40-45 variants are being marketed, presenting much room for the market’s expansion. By industry estimates, the current household penetration in terms of cheese consumption is less than 7-8 percent. The per capita consumption of cheese in India is a mere 200 gm. per year in contrast to the global average of 7 kg per annum; the average for urban India, however, is 700 gm. per person. Geographically, the top six cities consume approximately 60 percent of all the cheese sold in India.

This reflects the cities where there is good spread of the QSRs serving cheese-filled recipes/products such as Pizzas, Burgers, Bakery products, Fried Chicken, Cafes and many such as self-service QSRs. The brand which took advantage of the growth was the Dairy products leader – Amul and none of the brands which have been major suppliers to the Food Service Segments have been able to grow their domestic Retail share as opportunity of promoting the brand at the point of consumption or experience was not utilised. Amul conducted about 15,000 ‘teach and treat’ classes pan India, trained nearly a hundred thousand women folk and trained nearly 6,000 retailers to make pizza! Finally, to top it all Amul made a full 30-second TV commercial to go mass market with the actual Mozzarella cheese product. Amul’s strategy was to educate the customer through the Food Service and its “Teach and Treat” BTL activities and built a base, which acted as a catalyst in the market when Amul went full-fledged. Unlike many other MNCs, Amul did not go top down and advertised first. Within one year of launch, all the efforts led to sales from practically nothing, to about 120-150 metric tons each month. Hence with the Food Service exposure and BTL activities gradually Cheese, which was a top end food, had penetrated Indian homes, to the extent that its penetration in urban India was close to 37%

In India, the processed cheese market forms almost 45 percent of the total market that is likely to grow a higher-than-average CAGR of around 25 percent, which includes all spreads, cubes, slices, tins, slabs, etc. Within the processed cheese segment, around 60 percent of the market is dominated by unspreadable processed cheese. The segment is well organized, comprises regional, Indian, and international players, and is registering high levels of entrepreneurial activity. On the other hand, the unprocessed cheese market is largely associated with the soft cheese category in India, usually associated with Cottage Cheese/paneer. The traditional soft cheese constitutes over 55 percent of the total market, with only a small fraction thereof being contributed by the organized sector and is expected to continually form the major chunk, given the Indian consumer’s behaviour, for years to come.

 

 The market has been dominated by the cooperatives and regional players, with only a few international players making any inroads. The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) with its Amul brand of cheese has been the pioneer and is a formidable player enjoying a majority share in the market, followed by Britannia. The imported gourmet cheese market currently occupies a mere 5-7 percent of the total cheese market, but this niche segment is growing at over 30 percent. The rest of the market is split between other players such as Parag Milk Foods, Gowardhan Foods, Danone, Milky Mist, Heritage Foods, Mother Dairy, Vijaya Foods, Milkfed and Verka. Some of the global brands that have a long-standing presence in India include Dabon International, Bongrain SA, Kraft’s, Fromageries Bel, and Arla Cheese.

 The emergence of entrepreneurial ventures is not new to the cheese industry as the mathematics always seemed right, i.e., margins of 14 percent, with an additional revenue stream in the form of fat and SNF content with which to produce whey proteins, as against the 10 percent available through milk. The Organic Wild Acres offerings from Coonoor, Kodai Dairy’s Niligiris offering, Flanders Dairy, ABC Farms, Exito Gourmet, Himalaya International, etc., have contributed to both exports and domestic consumption with cheese variants such as Mozzarella, Cheddar, Colby-Jack, Churpee, Bandel, Ricotta, Gouda and La Ferme. 

In Delhi a Cheese Brand “Passion Cheese” selling different varieties of cheese had opened an exclusive Retail outlet in Malls educating and selling different varieties of Cheese Players such as Fromageries Bel have realised the importance of “Indianisation” after their import distribution setup with the Vegetarian Laughing Cow (La Vache que rie) Cheese failed and is now setting up local production to suit the local tastes and serve the FS market with better prices. In terms of prices, the average unit price has registered an increase over the past year as a result of consumers upgrading to more premium variants as well as an increase in milk prices and inflation in general.

 Companies such as Parag ( in fact Parag Dairies wanted to be synonymous with Cheese like the equivalent of Amul being synonymous with Butter) and Pragati wanted to ride the Cheese market and set up huge plants with large capacities. These companies could not break into the Food Services segment and as a result have faced unforeseen loses and Pragati was sold to the French MNC – Lactalis. The success in Food Service segment also gives the brands the initial volumes to sustain the growth in the overall market and build the awareness through the FS / HoReCa. Also, apart from the traditional ATL and BTL marketing promotions, players are looking at new means of reaching out to consumers. Amul is using packaging as a promotional tool by printing recipes on cheese packets. Cross-selling and bundling, both at the brand and retail level, with complementary products, besides product trials at the retail level, are becoming popular. Localized events are also playing key role. The institutional sales of such products have been heightened by the emergence of relevant food service formats. The number of specialty restaurants serving such cuisines (both stand-alone and those that are part of hotels) has recorded a steep rise, with the intake of value-added dairy products like cheese surging alongside.

Companies such as Parag ( infact Parag Dairies wanted to be synonymous with Cheese like the equivalent of Amul being synonymous with Butter) and Pragati wanted to ride the Cheese market and set up huge plants with large capacities. These companies could not break into the Food Services segment and as a result have faced unforeseen loses and Pragati was sold to the French MNC – Lactalis. The success in Food Service segment also gives the brands the initial volumes to sustain the growth in the overall market and build the awareness through the FS / HoReCa. Also, apart from the traditional ATL and BTL marketing promotions, players are looking at new means of reaching out to consumers. Amul is using packaging as a promotional tool by printing recipes on cheese packets. Cross-selling and bundling, both at the brand and retail level, with complementary products, besides product trials at the retail level, are becoming popular. Localized events are also playing key role. The institutional sales of such products have been heightened by the emergence of relevant food service formats. The number of specialty restaurants serving such cuisines (both stand-alone and those that are part of hotels) has recorded a steep rise, with the intake of value-added dairy products like cheese surging alongside.

 

Another New Category which has grown and built with the Food Service has been the Mayonnaise and Salad dressing product. Mayonnaise has been extensively in all the Western Dishes and has been enthusiastically used on Pizzas, Burgers, Salads, Fried Chicken, and Dips etc. In the early 90s the size of the Mayonnaise market in Retail and Food Service was less than 50 crores only. But post the growth of QSRs such as Dominos, Pizza Hut, Burger King, McDonalds, and innumerable Western fast food joints the market for mayonnaise and salad dressing has grown up to Rs. 700 Cr market of which the Consumer Retail packs accounts for only 25% of the total market. Availability of 14 variants of salad dressings expected to make a space on every table of the country, be it a middle-class home or a seven-star hotel. Having known the health benefits people have welcomed various salad dressings with heart.

Owing to the benefits such as growing demand for international food, availability of many variants and awareness about their multiple uses, acceptance of these sauces among young population and many such factors, the market for salad dressing is expected to increase by more than 15% CAGR. But the market has also faced pull-back in the demand due to challenges like shorter shelf life of salad dressing, lack of awareness among consumers, especially in the rural India as there is no advertisement campaign about salad dressings even in urban, and people's reluctance to have salad. The Growth of the mayonnaise and salad dressing products has been solely riding on the growth of the western food QSRs. 

 

The mayonnaise and salad dressing market of the country has grown with a CAGR of more than 20%, and is expected to grow to value more than INR 800 crores in the forecasted year 2022-2023. The market is segmented into organised and unorganised as well as retail and institutional sales. Mayonnaise has more than 4 types whereas salad dressing has more than 14 variants. Institutional sales dominate the market as institutions widely used them in their recipes. But with the passage of time, mayonnaise is gaining popularity among consumers due to its variants like mint mayonnaise, garlic mayonnaise, tandoori mayonnaise which is specially created for Indian cuisine. Overall retail sales and institutional sales have grown in proportion of around 25 is to 75 in the year 2016-2017. Salad dressing has 14 variants like Mustard & Honey Mustard salad dressing, French salad dressing, Pasta salad dressing, Italian salad dressing, Cream & Cheese salad dressing, 

Greek Low Fat salad dressing, Caesar salad dressing, Thousand Island salad dressing, Vinaigrette salad dressing, Russian salad dressing, Ranch Dressing, Harissa Dressing and Garlic salad dressing etc. Total salad dressing market is dominated by institutional sale, and most of the institutional buyers buy only branded salad dressing. So, the share of organized sale has been high, and is expected to dominate the market in the future too. It is also expected that various other flavours, along with new uses will be discovered in future, because of which, the market for salad dressing will grow. Busy lifestyles of people has, and is expected to prompt time crunched consumers such as working men and women in urban India who look for easy solutions such as cuisine-specific ready mixes with detailed instructions on how to make salad dressing. Moreover, people have nowadays started consuming more salad, due to which, the consumption of salad dressing is also growing and is expected to grow further.

One of the major players in the mayonnaise and salad dressing market has been VEEBA a late entrant and has captured the Food Service market from Cremica a long time player in the mayonnaise and salad dressing Food Service market. VEEBA used its Brand presence in the QSR outlets by cobranding and creating instant recognition for the brand which has been leading them into the retail consumer markets. Even though Unilever has been a long time player in the mayonnaise and salad dressing Food Service market in India yet they could not make any dent with their Knorr brand of mayonnaise and salad dressing. Mayochup, a hybrid of mayonnaise and tomato ketchup from Heinz is expected to be launched by this year end, in order to compete for dominance amid consumers' changing taste buds for table sauces.

 

When McDonald’s was launched in India in 1996, the world’s largest fast food chain established with its partners the most impressive cold-chain in the country. McCain Foods which is McDonald’s largest supplier of French Fries worldwide and the world’s largest potato processor started its operations in India in mid 1990s with and agronomic base of understanding the crop cultivation practices in India and finding the best suitable Potato for French fries that can be grown in India.  Only until August 2007, McCain identified the suitable potato – Shepardo and set- up its factory in Mehasana, Gujarat with seed Potato cultivation in Lahulspiti in Himachal Pradesh and contract farming of Potatoes in Gujarat. Till then every serving of MacFries in all Macdonald’s was imported by McCain Foods. On the Consumer Retail Front McCain started seeding operations of McCain French Fries to the evolving Modern Trade Outlets which had larger freezers. With the Domestic production of French Fries and other potato products in 2006, McCain expanded into over ten thousand outlets across the country.

Today French fries have turned out to be the fastest growing snack in all the QSRs such as Macdonald’s, KFC, and other Fast food restaurants and also every Indian Household with children buy a pack of French Fries. Thus a new product category such as French Fries an alien product till 90s could grow in the Indian Market only through Food service. Even though McCain never co-branded in any QSRs it could dominate in the Retail segment as there were no worthwhile competitors in the Indian Market. Imported French Fries such as Lamb Weston could not survive in the Indian Market. McCain rules with a market share of over 90%. Other leading brands, from Sumeru to Pagro to Al Kabeer, get their labelling done from either McCain or regional players such as Coimbatore-based Golden Fries and Agra-based BB Foods. New players in the frozen foods category, from Premier to West Coast, are importing French fries from Belgium. The other major French Fries player – JR Simplot entered Indian Market with a tie-up with Himalaya International and setup a plant in Gujarat but the entity fizzled out and has ended up in legal tangles.

Similarly another new product category – American Sweet Corn was largely sold through the Kiosks in all the Food Retailers, Food Courts, Shopping Malls and Cineplexes / multiplexes from the mid-90s. Today one can find American Sweet Corn being sold at all Modern Retail formats and consumers buying for Home consumption either for usage in dishes or consuming as a healthy snack.

 

Instant noodles were first created by Momofuku Ando, who was born in southwestern Taiwan when the island was under Japanese colonial rule in Japan on August 25, 1958, under the brand name Chikin Ramen. Momofuku developed the production methodology of flash frying the noodles after they had been made, creating "instant" noodles. This step dried the noodles and gave them a longer shelf life. Chikin Ramen itself was distinctly different from modern instant noodles in that each block of noodles was pre-seasoned and sold for 35 Yen. Initially, due to its price and novelty, Chikin Ramen was considered a luxury item, as Japanese grocery stores typically sold fresh noodles for one-sixth their price. Despite this, instant noodles eventually gained immense popularity, especially after being promoted by Mitsubishi Corporation. In 1971, Nissin introduced the Cup Noodles, instant noodles in a waterproof polystyrene cup, to which boiling water could be added to cook the noodles. A further innovation added dried vegetables to the cup, creating a complete instant soup dish

 

In India – Nestle launched Instant Noodles under the Maggie brand in the year 1982 as a two minute noodles. Nestle over the years built the instant noodles investing heavily into Advertising and promotions targeting children and used the pester power of children in regular usage and for repeat purchases. Even though Maggi Instant Noodles has a market share of nearly 70% after three decades of bumpy ride in the Indian Market, yet the penetration of Instant Noodles is abysmally low with the per capita consumption at less than 5 servings per person which is much lower than the world’s per capita consumption. Korea leads the per capita consumption of instant noodles at 75 servings followed by Vietnam at 54 servings. Even India’s neighbor Nepal which has a culinary culture similar to that of India has a per capita consumption of 53 servings. In markets with high penetration / per capita consumption such as Korea – the leading players have made the presence of Instant Noodles in the local Restaurants, cafes and created instant noodle stalls. 

 

Indomie is a leading brand of Instant noodles in Indonesia and Nigeria. In both these markets Indomie used the Food Service route for promoting the instant noodles among all the age groups and created a strong brand of instant noodles. In Indonesia the per capita consumption of noodles there is about 47 packs per annum, per person. In Nigeria, Indomie is the most popular instant noodles brand. Since its introduction in 1988, Indomie has had a remarkable impact on the Nigerian culinary landscape in just over a decade in the Nigerian market. It has grown to become a trusted household name, synonymous with quality, taste and value. The Indomie range of products com­mands a substantial degree of brand loy­alty and an enviable “top of mind” status amongst its consumers who cut across all demographic segments in Nigeria. Special mention needs to be made of its popularity amongst the children and their emotional attachment to the brand. Currently, the “Indomie” brand of instant noodles holds approximately 70% market share of the Nigerian market. Instant noodles are now eaten in most households across the country and the per capita consumption reached at 14 packs per person per year. The brand “Indomie” has become a ge­neric name for instant noodles in Nigeria and “Indomie” noodles has won several awards and accolades in recognition of its strong brand presence in Nigeria. As per a recent study by A.C. Nielsen, “Indomie” is not only a very strong brand in the instant noodles market in Nigeria but is in the top 6% of FMCG brands globally.

 

Today after three decades of investment in Advertising and Promotions and after the Lead controversy Maggie has started to sparingly open Maggie Points / Cafes and OOH consumption points in India and in neighboring markets

In the early 90s when Milk / Dairy was opened to the private sector, one of the pioneers to enter the Dairy industry in Tamil Nadu and South India was Hatsun Agro Products Limited. Till then Hatsun was a leading player in the SSI reserved Ice Cream industry with the Brand – Arun Ice-creams. Hatsun started its entry into the Milk / Dairy industry with the launch of homogenised standardised Milk ( Fat-4.5% ) under the brand name – AROKYA Milk. Hatsun was the first in the country to launch in early 1990s a Homogenised and Standardised Milk when the whole market was a non-homegenised Toned Milk ( Fat - 3.0% ) market especially in South India wherein the local Cooperative brands such as Aavin in Tamil Nadu, Nandini in Karnataka, Vijaya in Andhra Pradesh and Milma in Kerala were all non-homogenised Toned Milk. 

 

Consumers who were till then using non-homogenised Toned milk and converted to Homogenised & Standardised Milk found the milk to be thicker than their earlier brands, did not get any cream ( malai ) on top of the milk while boiling and the fat molecules were found sticking to the bottom of the vessel. Homogenised & Standardised Milk required to be boiled on slow flame and stirred constantly while boiling. Milk Consumers never understood the terms or the type of milk such as Toned or Standardised milk. This change in the consumer behavior was needed to be educated and Hatsun took the HoReCa / Food Service route and introduced this Homogenised & Standardised Milk first to the Tea-Shops, Hotels, Restaurants and Food Service outlets serving Tea / Coffee and using for Curd / Dahi and sweetmeats. The Tea Shops and HoReCa outlets quickly understood the benefits of more cuppage of the Homogenised & Standardised Milk and could change to slow boiling of milk with constant stirring. With the extensive usage of Homogenised & Standardised Milk in the HoReCa / Food Service, the domestic consumers understood and picked up the changes required in the usage of this Homogenised & Standardised Milk. With the sales of Arokya Homogenised & Standardised Milk to the HoReCa / Food Service increasing Hatsun was able to gain a steady food hold in the Milk / Dairy segment and thus invest in building Arokya Milk into the Domestic Consumer segment. Today Arokya Milk is one of the leading brands of Milk in India and is India’s largest brand of Homogenised & Standardised Milk.

The quintessential comfort food for most Indians is a collage of traditional flavours - Biryani is popular across India due to its rich taste and the savoury combination of exotic spices along with a wide range of ingredients like mutton, chicken, fish, egg, vegetables and more. Every City boasts of a Reseteraunt which serve this Biryani and in Hyderabad – Paradise is famous for its Hyderabadi Biryani. The leading Basmati Rice – Daawat supplies Basmati Rice and have been branding on the Takeaway packs and inside the Reseteraunt. Similarly at the famous Biryani Restaurant in Pune – George Restaurant, Dawaat Basmati Rice has branded inside the outlet and Venky’s has branded on the main Outer board

 

These Basmati and Chicken brands have created a brand awareness at these Biryani Restaurants but do they serve the purpose of building the brand in the Retail market among the Domestic Consumers?

Oreos have become an icon of 20th-century culture and in the year 2011 Cadbury’s launched in Indian Market the legendary OREO Biscuits which is a 100 years old brand with a global sales of over 1 billion US$. Over the years Oreo is known for its characteristic dark chocolate and had been continuously promoted in the Food Service world-wide. Even before its launch in India, Chefs across the country making Desserts swore by Oreo’s chocolate flavor for making Chocolate Cookie Cakes and Milk Shakes.

 

From Oreo-based dessert recipes spreading on the internet to festival favorites featuring the beloved cookie, it is clear that the world has a soft spot for this famous snack, and the cookie has only grown in popularity. The Indian launch has been with the "twist or dunk" debate which has been around for decades, with one side claiming that the chocolate sandwich cookie is best separated into two halves and eaten as such and the other side claiming that the treats are meant to be enjoyed by dunking them straight into a glass of milk. Whatever part of, it is safe to say that most find the cookie delicious.

 

In India the worldwide association with McDonald’s for its McFlurry Milk Shakes and with Hershey’s for its Cookie and Cream Milk Shakes was continued. This Food service route was further strengthened by the TV Commercial of a mother and daughter making an Oreo Cookie Cake at Home. Before the launch of Oreo Biscuits the competitor – Britannia preempted by launching a similar cookie named Treat Chocolate Cream Cookies but could not make any dent in the growth of Oreo sales. Post-launch Oreo Cookies thus grew faster than any other Biscuit brand or Cookie brand due to its world-wide Food Service heritage the brand had before its launch and the continued association of the Food Service route the Brand had taken for promoting in the Indian market. 

Cadbury’s was existent in the Indian market even before 1947 as Hindustan Cocoa Products Limited and have been pioneer in establishing the Cocoa and chocolate market in India. But even today the per capita consumption of Cocoa products including chocolates are the lowest of less than 0.1 Kg per annum. It’s not that Indians do not have a sweet tooth but on the contrary Indian consumption of sweet meats through its traditional sweet meats has been very high and Cadbury’s had the easy route of conversion or increasing the per capita consumption of using the Food Service route. If Cadbury’s had used the Food Service route for marketing its Cocoa and Chocolate products as a Market leader with over 70% market share could have easily increased the consumption of its brand of Cocoa products and Chocolates in India. 

 

Even the age old Carbonated beverages such as Coca Cola, Pepsi and others have used the Food Service route from its inception to build its consumption and brand and then built in the in-home or domestic consumption. This has been their strategy worldwide and has worked exceedingly well for building their consumer base. The focus of these carbonated beverage brands has been the Out of Home consumption points such as HoReCa outlets, Food Service Outlets and strategic outlets based on their Brand Positioning. These Food Service outlets are also strongly branded with the beverage images and both the soft drink fight over each other in these exclusive tie-ups and huge investments are made periodically. Worldwide Coca-Cola tied up with McDonalds for being exclusive supplier of all its Soft Drinks. This prompted Pepsi to create a chain of fast food restaurants such as Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell for serving its soft drinks and creating a steady sales and consumption.

Not all Food and Beverage categories are effective for building brands through the Food Service. Thus to summarize as below the categories that are best suited for building consumption/usage through Food Service and building their brand to influence sales in the Domestic Retail or its targeted Domestic consumers….