A cooperative and its concept test problem

Rossogolla is a famous Bengali sweet made of milk. It is part of the daily diet of a
Bengali, particularly in Calcutta. Rossogolla was invented by someone called Nabin
Chandra Das in 1850s. Today the sweet is marketed by sweet shop owners across
Calcutta. There are also established shops such as Sen Mahashay who sell under their
own label (such as K. C. Das in cans). Sweet shop owners also sell in traditional / plastic
packs, as soon as a customer places his order. They also sell in bulk for marriages,
parties and conferences.

Several cooperative organizations and private dairies want to enter the market with their
brand of “Rossogollas”. This stems from the general trend of traditional Indian
commodities becoming products, (e.g. Branded rice, Branded coffee, Branded wheat
etc.). Cooperatives perceive that they could manufacture better products than what was
being sold by sweet shop owners. One cooperative marketing organization,
commissioned students to do a market study of Rossogolla in Kolkata. Several
interesting findings emerged. A few are as below:

 Rossogolla, can be made of Kharapak or Chana.

 There are 31 variations of the above in Calcutta

 Each sweet shop owners caters to a specific market.

 The syrup can be of sugar or gur.

 There are five to six size variations of Rossogolla.

 There is also a small market for Rossogolla for diabetics.

 Bengalis are particular about the texture, taste etc. and so on.

 Institutional market is small.

 The market for canned Rossogollas is small.

It was recommended that a full fledged concept testing and a product testing exercise
be undertaken by the cooperative.

Exercise: you are required to design a Marketing Research proposal and design a
questionnaire.