Exclusive | One of our USPs' is to localize our products, McCain's Pandey

Frozen foods is something that fascinates children. There was a time when frozen foods was not so easily available. But McCain's entry in the Indian market created a lot of excitement in the Indian market. They came up with ads showing how easy it is to make McCain and at the same time gave the family a "Bahaar se mangaya" feel. 

With interesting campaigns, the brand had entered a non-existent market and today is one of the largest players in the category. It offers an all vegetarian variety which includes, smiles, french fries, nuggets, aloo tikki and a lot more.

Their localized products have been very well accepted by the Indian market. Today McCain is one of largest providers of frozen foods to wholesalers, retailers and hotels in the country. It is also expanding its footprint in the Indian market across Tier I&II cities.

To get deeper insights about the brand, Adgully caught up with Gunjan Pandey, General Manager Marketing, McCain Foods India.

Adgully: McCain enjoys almost monopolistic position , how has been the growth over the years?

Pandey: Frozen food market in India is still at a nascent stage. When we entered this market, there were hardly any players. There still aren’t many in the category we operate in i.e. vegetarian frozen snacks.

We’ve had a good growth over the years. The major challenge in India was to educate the Indian consumer about the benefits of frozen food. For this we have taken a lot of initiatives such as organizing kiosks for consumers to try our products, organizing a real time experience at Hindustan Times cafeteria, etc. those activities have borne fruit.

One of our USPs is to localize our products according to the Indian taste buds. So we have products like Smiles, Aloo Tikki, Veggie Burger Patty, Veggie Fingers, etc. that appeal to the Indian taste.

With these efforts, we have registered a double digit growth over the years. We have registered a faster growth than the growth of frozen food market in India.

Adgully: Can you share your marketing strategies for the Indian Market?

Pandey: When we entered the Indian market in 1998, the Indian consumer had a lot of misconceptions regarding frozen food. Other than the fact that the products needed to be customized according to the Indian taste, we also had to focus on educating our consumers on the myths related to frozen food and their consequent debunking.

We have diligently worked on it. Our packs provide complete information about the snacks. We also have a website dedicated to it where the consumer is free to read and explore about the advantages of frozen food and how it is at times more nutritious compared to its fresh counterpart.

We share monthly newsletters with our institutional consumers to make them aware of how using frozen cuts down wastage and saves time and at the same time offers consistency of taste and texture.

As a common practice to reach out to consumers we offer various schemes and trial packs during festivals and occasions.

Localization is one of the cornerstones of our India growth strategy. Our localized offerings are growing well gaining acceptance. That is what made us venture into our veggie portfolio after registering good growth of our potato specialties.

Adgully: What is the media mix you have used during  launch? How best have you utilized digital and social Media space in your media plan?

Pandey: Our marketing mix is a combination of television media, print media, radio channels and visual merchandizing. We actively conduct wide scale sampling to promote our products among consumers to register their feedback. We conduct cross category promotions, and also organize point of purchase activities such as freezer branding, in store branding, etc.  We have recently started using the Digital media in our plans.  The results have been encouraging so far.

Adgully: How did the consumer respond to frozen foods at the time of the launch? What measures did you undertake to change the perception?

Pandey: Initially, the Indian consumers were a bit skeptical about using frozen food. But in the last few years, consumers in India have undergone a dramatic transformation in terms of their spending habits and eating habits. There is a noticeable shift from traditional spending on food and groceries to lifestyle and convenience food products.

The relevance of McCain’s frozen products is growing with consumers appreciating and acknowledging the benefits of being able to create a freshly made hot snack within a matter of minutes. Additionally, they have been happy with the convenience of stocking them up in their home freezers for an anytime consumption.

Experience is what comes in most handy to change opinion. Our rigorous efforts to educate the consumers and make them experience what we educate them about have helped us penetrate this market.

Quick service restaurants have also contributed to our growth where standardization and consistent quality are important parameters.

Having said that, frozen food is still a new category and the breakthrough is happening gradually but surely.

Adgully: You have a Quick freezing technology to keep food fresh and to lock nutrition. Tell us something about this technology.

Pandey: Frozen food is processed by plucking the produce when it is ripe and at the peak of its nutrition. It is quickly processed and frozen using IQF technology.

The way foods are frozen in the IQF method involves sending the individual food items on a sort of conveyor belt into a blast-freezer that freezes the item very quickly. Because the food items are separate when they go in, they stay separate after they've been frozen.

Freezing is the most natural form of preserving food and does not require any preservatives.

Adgully: What kind of consumer awareness programs are you focusing on?

Pandey: Our strategy has been to focus on activities to increase trial and generate awareness amongst parents and meal providers. We reach out to our consumers through different media, TV, newspapers, magazines, online portals, etc.

Not just that we ensure a holistic understanding of our products from creating exciting recipes with our products for consumers to educating them about the myths related to frozen food and their consequent debunking.

Using the medium of newsletters to reach out to our target audience has also proved quite useful.

We conduct consumer oriented contests to keep our consumers engaged. We recently conducted one where we had our brand ambassador Karishma Kapoor felicitated the winners.  

Adgully: Has the Brand and the Category benefited with the association of a celebrity? Has it helped you in building a better connect with the Indian audience?

Pandey: We are delighted to have Karishma Kapoor on board, as she embodies the contemporary women of today – balancing the pressures of work, children and home with grace. Over the past two years, we have witnessed a significant increase in brand recognition due to the association of our products with Karishma. She has brought to life our proposition and communicated effectively the joys of having ready to serve snacks which are fresh and tasty. Today’s women have come a long way from the days when cooking tasty snacks meant spending hours in the kitchen over a hot cook stove, having to chop and dice every ingredient from scratch. Now she keeps her frozen reserves handy to save time planning, shopping or preparing dishes, making sit-down family meals much more enjoyable!”

Karishma believes in the company’s brand theme of ‘Taste Ka Naya Magic’ Being a celebrity homemaker and mother of two kids, she not only manages a busy lifestyle but also whips-up a variety of mouthwatering snacks in record time. By Archit Ambekar | Twitter: @aambarchit

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