Mother Dairy aims to create new experiences: Subhashis Basu

Gearing up for the stiff competition in the dairy market in India, which has players like Amul, Nestle, Danone, Nandini, Prabhat Dairy, etc., Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board, has recently refurbished its curd range.

The company has also redefined its go to market approach by launching products in varied markets across the country and adopting FMCG channel distribution approach to support its national ambitions.

In an interaction with AdGully, Subhashis Basu, Business Head – Dairy Products, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable, speaks more on the new look for Mother Dairy’s curd range, growth of value-added products and more. Excerpts:

What are the objective and reasons behind the new packaging? How different is it from the old packaging? What kind of transition does it signify?
We believe that it is important to keep evolving as per consumer needs and trends to remain relevant at all times. The launch of our new curd identity emanated from the portfolio strategy for Mother Dairy’s curd range. The idea was to create value spaces to support the current portfolio and further extensions of the category while creating clear distinction between various product offerings.

We have created a new proposition aimed at establishing the brand as passionate pioneers for curd, bringing innovation to the forefront and creating new experiences. The packaging design is the outcome of the new brand architecture that has been created to communicate the intent of the brand.

Why the new look? How will it connect to the consumers?
Most of the curd brands have an inside out story, that is, they are defined more from the manufacturer’s point of view and as per regulatory requirements such as Standard, Toned, Probiotic, etc. They largely do not clarify or communicate the intent of the brand. For consumers it is not an easy selection and decision making across range of their offering. Hence, it is important to create value spaces to have a broad based approach for the category. For a brand, owning the value spaces helps in driving focus towards efficiency and also helps in clearly communicating its intent for the category amongst its consumers.

What elements has Mother Dairy added in the new packaging?
The new pack design is inspired by the newly defined approach and embraces a fresh, playful and youthful design language, giving it a fresh visual treat.

Our Ultimate Dahi, which is addressed as ‘Rich & Delicious’, is aimed to match the traditional taste palate as loved by consumers. Taste is the ultimate and most important factor. Additionally, the pack design of this variant is inspired by traditional pots; this route instantly brings back happy memories. The design intuitively cues authenticity and richness. The touch of golden-yellow adds the right amount of premiumness to this category.

Similarly, the Classic Dahi is addressed as ‘Simply Delicious’, which is aimed for everyday convenience. The new pack depicts different spoons on the pack, which demonstrates the versatility of curd and the different ways it is used by anyone and everyone.

Lastly, our Advanced Dahi is aimed to offer a healthy intake in daily routine and is addressed as ‘Wholesome & Delicious’. The green shield and a family on the pack subtly cue towards the wellbeing of the entire family.

How difficult was it to change the appearance of the biggest category of Mother Dairy’s value-added products?
Defining a new route is always a challenging task, when you are dealing with one of your biggest categories. But we feel as leading player of the category, it is important to understand the need of consumers and offer them solutions which are relevant to them. Also, the category has been seen more from a commodity mindset rather than from a point of view of what’s in it for the consumers. We felt that a fresh approach was needed to refresh and revitalise the curd portfolio.

What is the current position of the Mother Dairy brand and what will it be in future?
While we will be reinforcing on the core values of the brand, that is, Trust, Purity and Quality, we will also be building on the peripheral value of the brand, thus making it young and contemporary as we move along.

How has the growth of value-added products of Mother Dairy been in the market?
Talking about our range of value-added products, we are witnessing encouraging response to all our categories that we operate in. Value-added dairy products is one of the fastest growing businesses of Mother Dairy. This growth has been largely due to strengthening our portfolio to meet the evolving consumer needs and launching products best suited for the consumers. In addition, we also redefined our go to market approach by launching products in varied markets across the country and adopting FMCG channel distribution approach to support our national ambitions.

What new launches can we expect from Mother Dairy in this season?
Mother Dairy has always endeavoured to offer innovative and exciting products in various formats and flavours to keep the consumers excited and explore for more. This year, too, we have come out with varied offerings in ice creams to entice the taste buds. You will find a regional delicacy for the Eastern part of the country, while there are products for fruit lovers, traditional desserts as well as products for consumers looking for premium range.