Category — Food Processing

After launching the drink, Tang, earlier, American giant Kraft Foods has introduced the  Indian version of its iconic Oreo cookies into India’s vibrant “Biscuit” market. The price will be suited to Indian pockets. While the imported Oreo costs Rs50 for a 14-pack ($1.10) , the ‘Made in India’ ones will be available from Rs5  (11 cents) a for a three pack and Rs20 (22 cents)  for a larger pack. Indian media says that they will be supplied by Jalandhar-based Mrs Bector’s Food Specialties.

Advertising for Oreo in India is being handled by Interface Communications even though Kraft subsidiary Cadbury India uses the Indian arm of Ogilvy & Mather. The television commercial features the bonding shared by a father and child while eating an Oreo biscuit. The ‘Twist, Lick and Dunk’ ritual forges an emotional bond between the two as they enjoy the biscuit while sharing fun filled moments.

The launch of the commercial is backed by  outdoor activations in six cities – Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Kolkata. The campaign will extend to on-ground shopper activation in malls, amusement parks, multiplexes and modern trade outlets to engage with families, complimented by a digital campaign:  website and Facebook page.

While the pricing and sourcing is Indian, the company is relying on trusted global themes to appeal in India. Anand Kripalu, President – South Asia & Indo-China, said, “Oreo is more than just a biscuit. The ‘Twist, Lick and Dunk’ ritual, which is an integral part of the brand, has brought fun filled moments of bonding to countless families across the globe.”

Discussing longer  term plans in India Kripalu clarified that “as categories we will focus on confectionery, that is, chocolate, gum and candy, powdered beverages and biscuits. Dairy is a different animal. We are not going to divert focus for now. Our hands are full.” He referred to the parent company’  Kraft’s “5-10-10” game plan for emerging markets, which is about five categories, ten power brands and ten markets. These five categories include chocolates, gum & candy, biscuits, coffee and powdered beverages.

The power brands are Jacobs coffee, Tang, Oreo, chocolates Lacto and Milka, Cadbury, Trident gum, Halls candy, Biskuat (a cookie)), and Club Social, a snack brand. The ten markets are Brazil, China, Russia, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, Poland, Ukraine and Mexico. With four power brands from the 5-10-10 portfolio already present in India,  It is to be seen whether some more from the list makes their way to India. Kripalu isn’t dropping names for now. He simply says, “The 5-10-10 philosophy is a guide. We have much work to make the current launches a success.”

Takeaway: While PepsiCo’s Kurkure snacks have taken a totally Indian approach for market entry, Kraft is right to bring some core values of the Oreo experience  (families, fun, moments spent together) to India.  Let’s watch and see how Indian middle-class families respond to this appeal.

Indian historian Ramachandra Guha compares  the sport of cricket in India to soccer (football) in Brazil.  India’s  love affair is evident to even the casual American visitor; tt’s a game that’s enjoyed equally well on the streets of any city corner, as it is on the greens of cricket clubs that dot the city. I tell my American clients to imagine professional and college baseball/football/basketbal/hockey combined  in comparing the role of cricket in India to their own experience.

Youth playing cricket on Indian streets

Much has been written  on the political, social and even the economic bearing the game has on the country. So I can understand the excitement PepsiCo’s Gatorade Pacers’ announcement has generated. Gatorade Pacers is a program that helps identify and prepare five  “fast bowlers”  for the Indian Cricket team. (bowlers are the rough equivalent of baseball pitchers for my American readers, bowlers whose hallmark is speed of throw are called pacers, as distinct from “spinners” that can bowl curve balls or even “googlies”).  Those selected  travel to Dubai to train at the ICC Cricket Academy in a bid to outshine all others in the Gatorade Sweat Test.

The Gatorade Sweat Test claims  scientific backing; the program works with athletes to understand and develop a better hydration system, which in turn generates higher performance levels. Fans of the Gatorade Sweat Test include Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Brett Lee and Usain Bolt.

The five men selected – Barinder Singh, Abdul Baseer Mohammed, Gurudas Shenoy, Sukhvir Singh and Maninder Singh will spend 7 days in training under resident coaches Mudassar Nazar and Dayle Hadlee before practicing with teams from the Netherlands, Kenya, Ireland and Canada. The Gatorade Pacers program has been a smart move on the part of PepsiCo. Launched in 2007 and exclusive to India, the program has touched the nation where it matters most – on an emotional front. It has also provided over 20,000 aspirants the chance to become part of a very exclusive and much loved club.

PepsiCo entered the India in 1989 and has grown quite successful , with international brands including  Pepsi, Lay’s, Tropicana, Gatorade and Quaker, as well as  India-only  brands lsuch as  Nimbooz (a lemon drink)  and Kurkure (spicy fried and roasted snacks) .  Incidentally,  Pepsi India’s first CEO was my friend Micky Pant, who is mentioned in my book “Doing Business in 21st Century India” for his observations relating to Hindustan Lever.

Executives from Nestle and General Mills attended the opening of an innovation center for Cereal Partners Worldwide, (CPW), a joint venture between the two companies located in Orbe, Switzerland.

Returning Chinese expats, called sea turtles, have helped in the transformation of that Shanghai, Beijing, Shen-zhen and much of the country. We are now seeing evidence of similar threads with returning Indians.

New York educated engineer Gyanesh Pandey, returned to India after spending years with International Rectifier, a company that makes power chips. He and three friends with similar backgrounds, founded Husk Power Systems a company that has installed  65 small power units that serve a total of 30,000 rural households in the eastern state of Bihar. The company, partly funded by Silicon-Valley venture capitalist Draper Fisher Jurvetson, is currently installing new systems at the rate of two to three each week.

The technology developed by Pandey uses the waste husk from locally grown rice as the fuel. Rice Husk, an amorphous and low density fuel produces a gas with high tar content and was historically used in dual fuel systems where diesel was the primary input. Much of rural India is off the power grid; lighting and power to charge cell phones is provided by diesel generators.

Applying the idea of appropriate innovation to India, where labor is cheap, Pandey hypothesized that while dirty gas can clog the engine, if the engine is cleaned before the clog begins to hamper its operation seriously, you can build a sustainable product. They got their gasifier fabricated at a local workshop, procured a local CNG (compressed natural gas) engine from a small supplier and modified it to make their prototype.

According to an item this week on the New York Times website, “The company expects to have 200 systems by the end of 2011, each serving a village or a small village cluster. Its plan is to ramp that up significantly, with the goal of having 2,014 units serving millions of clients by the end of 2014.”

The India Expert does not know if Husk Power will transform rural India. But there are a thousand such innovators hard at work across India today and some of their innovations will transform not only India but parts of the developed world as well. Expect some impact in five years and significant impact by 2020.  You read it here first!

Nestle India is allying with National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol (NDOC) Foundation to study the specifics and patterns of diabetes prevalence in the country. Dr Anoop Misra, Director, department of diabetes and metabolic diseases, Fortis Hospitals will lead the research.   (Last year I visited Dr. Misra and reviewed some of his great work for diabetes awareness in India).

According to news reports, the MoU with Nestle revolves around two pillars, one on increasing nutritional awareness on dietary modification needed to prevent and manage diabetes and secondly, around research around the disease in the Indian landscape.

Diabetes is a huge problem in India due to genetic predisposition. Increasing sedentary lifestyles, inappropriate diets are causing a rise in the incidence of the disease. At the same time, affluence is increasing the number of patients who can access treatment and diagnosis.