Emami’s Mantra Masala is eyeing Rs 1,000 cr turnover in 5 years: Krishna Mohan Nyayapati

Emami Agrotech Limited, an Emami Group company, is in the business of branded food manufacturing. The company is involved in the production and sale of branded Edible Oils, Specialty Fats and Vanaspati. Today, the company is a cherished name in the edible oil industry with a turnover of over Rs 18,000 crore. Besides edible oil and specialty fats, the company has recently ventured into the branded spices & tastemakers and processed food categories.

Spices are an important ingredient in every dish. While several types of spices are available in the market, today the consumer has become more conscious and is looking for branded spices. They are very particular about the quality and there is a clear trend of increased demand for packaged spices. Emami’s Mantra Masala, which is known for its richness, pure aroma and taste, comes with the use of their unique Cryogenic technology.

In an exclusive conversation with Adgully, Krishna Mohan Nyayapati, Director, Emami Agrotech Ltd, speaks about the brand story of the company’s Mantra Masala spices and how they are differentiating themselves in the market with their innovative manufacturing technology to deliver quality products.

There are some big brands that have entered the spices market in a big way. How is Emami going to differentiate their products in this highly competitive market environment?

Mantra Masala’s USP is its rich and pure aroma, colour and taste that comes from the use of the unique Cryogenic technology. Cryogenic Grinding Technology is a process where the spices are ground at temperatures ranging from zero to minus 50 degrees Celsius. This allows Mantra spices to retain the essential oils at least up to 95%, thus offering superior colour, flavour and aroma. Spices available in the market today are mostly ground using a traditional process, which involves heating up to 70 degrees Celsius, allowing them to retain the essential oils up to only 40%. Also, the range of spices are 100% natural and without any added color or preservatives.

The Indian consumer today is making a lot more conscious choices and with our differentiated proposition we believe that we would be able to stand out among others.

Further, the blended spices of Mantra come in a unique packaging of reusable zip-lock packs, which help to preserve the aroma and freshness of the spices for a longer period.

What kind of trends have you noticed in the spices market and what kind of audience are you targeting for Emami Mantra masala?

Spices are almost 100% penetrated in Indian market. Consumers are becoming more conscious about the quality and a clear trend of increased demand on packaged spices are seen. Considering that we are targeting quality seekers – we believe our range of products will be well-accepted.

How do you plan to position the brand in the market? What kind of growth ambition has been set by the brand for the next five years?

We have set an ambition of achieving Rs 1,000 crore turnover in 5 years’ time. We believe that our positioning of being the only natural spices brand, with a promise of longer retention of essential oils which enrich the taste of the food, will help us to achieve the above.

The brand will also entice/ encourage non-regular cooks to showcase their cooking skills.

How do you plan to leverage your brand ambassador Katrina Kaif and what was the criteria for choosing her as the brand ambassador?

We had taken a lot of time to build the persona of our brand. We were keen to on-board a celebrity who would resonate with the brand. We found Katrina to be a highly successful professional, committed, fresh, modern, young, vibrant and vastly different from the others in terms of her image – some of the characteristics which we believe are the very ethos of our Brand Mantra. So, she was our eventual choice.

Katrina also enjoys a strong connect with every segment of the audience across age groups and geographies, which we feel will help in faster brand awareness and adoption.

What’s going to be your strategy to create awareness about this brand and how do you plan to engage with your audience?

We have an aggressive 360-degree marketing plans across various medium to promote the brand and capture the minds and hearts of our consumers in our target markets.

Our television campaign has been launched featuring Katrina Kaif and highlighting Mantra Masala as the best cooking ally for all – the experienced, novice and experimentative enthusiasts – providing them the ease, convenience and confidence of best aroma, colour and taste in cooking.

We are also working on the various engagements with consumers on the digital landscape and would unleash a host of interesting campaigns here too.

We are also doing activity engaging with the e-commerce/ e-grocery chains. We will engage with the consumers and encourage association with our brand through sampling, trial generation, promotions and other methods for enabling adoption and loyalty.