Food companies push local flavours to up sales

MUMBAI: How different can potato chips or a dhokla mix be from another of its kind? Well, the difference could define success or failure in a particular region of a nation as diverse as India, where local flavours rule consumer palates. Think macro and act micro is becoming the formula of success for most packaged food companies.
A few years ago, when Gits Food Products (Gits) experimented with a very localized product called ‘dhoka’ in West Bengal, little did it realize that this Bengali delicacy would exceed sales of its nationally popular gulab jamun mix in the eastern state to become the number one product in the Gits’ portfolio in that market.Can ‘dhoka’ click in another market as well? Unlikely. Basundi is another example with over 80% of Gits basundi mix sales coming from western states.
Even ITC is crafting a strategy of creating regional flavours for potato chips and finger snacks. For example, ‘Bingo! Tedhe Medhe’ caters to the taste preferences of north India and ‘Bingo! Galata Masti’ has been introduced in the southern markets, while ‘Bingo! Yumitos’, an original style potato chips, has also been launched for the south.
Undertaking extensive research at a micro level for a strategy riding on ‘many Indias’ is what marketers are keenly pursuing. “Almost all of our research is done at a micro level,” says Sahil Gilani, director (sales & marketing), Gits.
“Gits dhoka mix was launched purely based on consumer demand and feedback from our sales team on the ground. Local retailers too were convinced that this product would work. Hence, we spent several months developing an authentic Bengali recipe for our dhoka mix,” says Gilani. Research at ITC is also conducted at a micro level.

“The attempt has been to expand the number of cities though it is a time-consuming and expensive exercise,” said V L Rajesh, COO (foods division), ITC. “Demand for various categories varies from region to region. For example, Sunfeast Marie and Sunfeast Dream Cream are primarily sold in the southern and western parts of India. SKUs (stock keeping units) for food brands also vary from state to state for the same flavour. Kerala sells more family packs than other states,” said Rajesh.
Marketers have, thus, begun to pay heed to even minute details of consumer behaviour. Even shifts towards new tastes are developing randomly. So Chinese as a sub-category is almost 10% of the sauces market in the south, according to consumer insights researched by Del Monte. “There is a significant trend of people moving beyond local chutneys/condiments to schezwan and chilli sauces,” said Yogesh Bellani, CEO, Field Fresh Foods (Del Monte).
While south contributes 22% (year-to-date) to Del Monte’s distributive trade business, the region’s contribution to its Chinese business is 35%. Similarly, olive oil consumption is also said to be growing at an unprecedented rate in Punjab. There are many underlying factors — such as cardio-vascular diseases and exposure to relatives settled abroad — for Punjab to emerge as a big market for olive oil.