Sanjiv Goenka's Too Yumm bets on health, the young Indian and Virat Kohli

The RP-Sanjiv Goenka group looks to ride the popularity and reputation of its endorser to build a national footprint for its packaged food brands

The brand is called Too Yumm and the company that owns it, GuiltFree Industries—as the RP-Sanjiv Goenka (RPSG) group goes national with its brand of snacks, it is leaving nothing to chance. With labels that wear the brands’ intended message on their sleeve and with Virat Kohli as endorser, the group is going all out to woo the young Indian consumer. 

The company does not want to leave any ambiguities over its brand proposition:  low calorie snacking is the niche that it wants to carve out for itself in the highly competitive Rs 200 billion snacks market. The brand that is less than a year old has, according to company officials, generated over Rs 1 billion for its parent and is expected to contribute Rs  3.6 billion in the 2017-18 fiscal year to RPSG’s consolidated revenue.

However, the Too Yumm brand has been mainly confined to the East and is currently available through the group’s own modern retail chain of Spencer’s Retail and across nearly 50,000 other traditional retail outlets. Sanjiv Goenka, group chairman, now wants to change that. He has national ambitions for the brand and is looking to triple the total outlet count (stores that stock the brand) by June this year.

However the category that Goenka is keen to make a mark in is highly cluttered. The packaged foods segment in India has multinationals such as PepsiCo and domestic majors such as ITC playing an aggressive game as well as a battery of local players leveraging their close understanding of the customer to steal an edge over national rivals. To break through the crowd of brands vying for attention in the category, RPSG had to find a compelling narrative. 

The Too Yumm range of fox nuts (lotus seed crisps) will directly compete with the $313 million potato chips category which is dominated by PepsiCo’s Lays and Uncle Chipps, ITC’s Bingo and others while the veggie sticks will take on PepsiCo’s Kurkure and ConAgra Food’s Act II Bakes. The brand thus has to make an impression with its communication, product and packaging design for the consumer to pick it up the first time.

The company believed that the best way to do that would be to get a face for the brand that would not only promote the promise of ‘healthy snacking’ but  also connect with the youth. “The Virat Kohli campaign helps because it gives visibility and he epitomises fitness and a healthy, young and energetic lifestyle and we expect this product to do the same,” Goenka said. While the obvious connection between Kohli, fitness and the brand as a healthier alternative is what the company is hoping consumers will make, there is also the risk that the brand could bear the brunt of fan ire if they are angered by their star sportsman’s performance on the field or his off-field antics. 

Still, experts believe that this is a good choice. “Kohli is the most well-known face today and if the product also talks about staying fit, it gels well,” Ramesh Thomas, president at brand consultancy Equitor said. This is especially relevant as the brand expands its footprint beyond modern retail outlets and goes into small towns and not-so-prime locations within metros. “The more you have a person like Kohli, the more general trade sales you get,” Goenka says.

In some markets Kohli brings instant recognition and easy recall while in some he adds value to the brand through his association with fitness and health. Harish Bijoor, CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults says, “RPSG has launched a brand which is mostly unknown today. Signing up Kohli instantly creates awareness for the brand as well as category.” However the company has to work towards building its credibility as a healthy snacking option, this it needs to do by delivering a product that stands by its promise, otherwise, say brand experts, no amount of promotion will convince consumers. 

The other big challenge is to position Too Yumm as a national, not just a regional player. To that end the team at RPSG has been working to make the group’s name known nationally, particularly among the youth in the 14-40 age bracket. The association with the Indian Premier League as owner of the Rising Pune Super Giants team has helped make the brand a familiar name within the age group. 

Besides the group’s connection with cricket  made Kohli’s induction as brand ambassador seem like a natural extension.  Goenka said Kohli has been signed for the brand (for a range of products) and that RPSG plans to roll out at least 15 new products by the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year—all likely to be endorsed by Kohli. Get ready to see more of the brand and its charismatic endorser on all screens near you.