|
| Battle over wealth in health |
| Priyanka Singh / New Delhi Dec 06, 2010, 00:48 IST |
|
Pepsico’s Quaker is waking up to competition from Kellogg’s Heart to Heart Oats in the oatmeal category
Pepsico versus Coca Cola is passé. It’s time for Pepsico versus Kellog’s in the relatively niche battleground of ready-to-eat oatmeal.
The beverage and foods giants has been dominating the Rs120 crore market for over a year now with its popular Quaker brand, which has been growing at 30 per cent annually, riding on the rapidly growing consumer preference for health foods.
But Kellogg’s has now taken on Quaker with ‘Heart to Heart Oats’ which was launched in Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi and Kolkata just a few months ago. And the company, which already has a loyal health-conscious consumer base which buy its cornflakes range, is playing the pricing game in the oatmeal market. ‘Heart to Heart’ is priced at Rs 29-118 depending on the pack size compared to Quaker’s Rs 30-140.
Kellogg’s says its key strategy now is to grow the market, which is still very small. Sangeeta Pendurkar, Managing Director, Kellogg’s India, says “We would soon be launching it across the country as the response has been tremendous. However, south India is a key market for us for the category as a whole.”
Pendharkar says that the communication for the product would be targeted at women with husbands in the age bracket of 35-44 years. “Since we are talking about heart health, the wife is the best person to understand the husband’s health,” she adds.
Working women is also a target customer base. Kellogg’s India marketing head Vikram Bahl says “With more working women and more families looking for healthy breakfast options, ready-to-eat cereals have steadily gained popularity in India.”
Kellogg’s will not use only the kirana shops and general retail outlets to hawk its health product. It will push oatmeal through chemists and medical outlets in Tier II and III towns as well.
Kellogg’s executives also drives the point home that it is not expecting miracles as oatmeal as a product category has very low penetration now. But the company believes that the story will change in the next three to five years even in smaller towns.
But PepsiCo isn’t exactly sitting quiet. It is trying to Indianise Quaker by showing that you could use oatmeal to make your Indian recipes. So one innovation being tried out is a recipe book which offers Indian oat recipes such as oats idli, oats halwa and oats chaat.
Pepsico is also trying to explain to consumers that oatmeal fits in well with the Indian habit of eating, unlike for instance cornflakes which was not part of the Indian palate at all. Vidur Vyas, Marketing Director-Foods, PepsiCo India says, “Oats resonates well with the Indian habit of eating cooked breakfast. With Quaker, which costs less than Rs 5 per serve, we have been able to give nutrition and convenience at the same time. Quaker Oats contain beta glucan soluble fibre, which helps keep your heart healthy. With these benefits, we have been able to educate the consumer and have seen very good results of late.”
Quaker is also trying to push the product in hospitals. It has tied up with Apollo Hospital and launched a Heart Health campaign, besides launching a portal (www.goodmorningheart.com), which helps assess risks associated with the heart. Quaker recently moved to PET jars from cartons and flexible packs earlier, giving it a better visibility at retail store shelves.
To encourage consumers to use the product, the Quaker website also contains articles on heart health, tools such as BMI calculators and a downloadable widget to help people monitor their progress constantly against set goals. Once the consumer has taken the test, they would receive customized diet plans.
There are some smaller players like Baggry’s, which are also trying out the market. The company's marketing vice president Vijay Kapoor says “Our oats sales have posted 30-40 per cent growth in the past three years. The category is growing and our marketing strategy would be focused on availability of our products evenly across the country.”
Kapoor has enough reasons to feel so confident. According to a report released by the Tata Strategic Management Group, the market for health and wellness foods in India, currently at Rs 10,050 crore, is set to achieve a compounded annual growth rate of 30-35 per cent for the next five years, to touch Rs 55,000 crore by 2015.
While the packaged foods and beverages category is growing at 15-20 per cent annually, health and wellness foods are expected to grow at a much higher 30-35 per cent.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
