How can ready to eat mixes be marketed better?

Submitted by-

Aalok Singla

DM22101

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 Introduction

Ready to eat mixes have been there for a long time in the Indian market. The main reason

behind these products is to make a meal in few minutes. They are introduced in the Indian

market around 1980. These products have a huge demand in the western part of the world but

these products didn’t make a mark in the mind of Indian consumers. Initially, these products

didn’t perform well in the Indian market.

In India, people have great values when it comes to food. They give more attention to

homemade food and it is hard to convince these customers. As most of the mothers in India

are home-makers and they love to provide meals to the whole family. So, their main target for

marketing is mothers. They are available for different purposes such as snacks, sweets, and

main-course. There are many players in the Indian market in Ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat

segment such as McCain Foods India Private Limited, MTR Foods Private Limited, ITC

Limited, Darshan Foods Private Limited, Haldiram Snacks Private Limited, etc.

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 Current Situation

Due to urbanization and an increase in the per-capita income of an Indian household, the

situation for the ready-to-eat segment has been changed and it is increasing at a rapid rate.

The people who left their homes for studies or jobs. Most of them always look out for the

easy way to have nutritious and healthy food. But due to lack of time they prefer ready-to-eat

products. According to Netscribes suggests the RTE market will reach a total worth of INR

50,900 million (USD 709 million) by 2023. But as a nation of more than 1.3 billion people,

they have a lot to cover and these products face difficulty due to many factors such as

cognitive dissonance, personality, etc.

Challenges faced by Ready-to-eat products

1) Health concern- Studies suggested that long-term consumption of ready-to-eat

products may lead to several health issues like an increase in blood pressure and

cholesterol & may lead to diabetes as well. So, the consumers who are health-

conscious may feel cognitive dissonance while purchasing these products. And Indian

mothers are very careful about their family members health. So, the product which

was mainly focused on this consumer segment has to face difficulty.

2) The freshness of the food- People become very sceptical when it comes to food.

When they have to consume ready-to-eat food, the freshness of the food become a

major concern. People know that these products have food preservatives but they also

know that they remain on a shelf for a long-time. So, it becomes a heart-or head

dilemma to purchase these products.

3) Nutrition value- As these products have preservatives, people think that it will affect

the nutrition value in these products. And Indian mothers want their children to have

more and more nutritious food. So, it will affect the overall Ready to eat industry.

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 4) Distribution system- There are many renowned brands that deal in this sector. But

there are many unbranded ready-to-eat products in the Indian market. So, their

business is small and it affects all the operations of a business. As a distribution

system affects it will also impact the sales. Thus, it will impact the overall RTE

industry.

Target consumers

These products are more focused on Indian mothers as their potential customers. The target

consumers for the products need to be increased to increase the market size and growth of the

industry. The brands have to develop different strategies for the different segments to target a

greater number of consumers. A brand has to associate itself with the underlying value of a

consumer. So, the following categories can be the potential customers for the RTE and RTC

products-

1) Indian mothers- Indian mothers are more concerned about the nutrition and the value

provided by these products. The RTE brands can target these customers by reducing

their cognitive dissonance. To show them these products can provide the value of

money and it is nutritious as well.

2) Senior citizens- People who are above 60 are considered senior citizens and most of

them are retired by this age. They have large disposable incomes. But due to age,

most of them have health issues and can’t eat outside spicy and unhealthy food.

Ready-to-eat brands have to make their strategies in a way that these products are the

substitute for eating outside and it is healthy as well.

3) Health-conscious people- As Ready-to-eat segment face a major challenge from the

people who are health conscious. It is believed that these products can affect the

health of a person. So, they have a negative attitude towards these brands. So, RTE

brands have to reformulate their products to have low cholesterol.

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4) Unmarried people- People who are unmarried are generally left their hometown for

studies, jobs, etc. They can be a very potential customer for the RTE segment. These

people are involved in many and hectic activities. So, they have a time constraint and

being away from home. They face a major challenge while choosing the food they

want to consume. RTE segment can easily tap these customers by using the Zaltman

metaphor elicitation technique that they can easy to make and in no time.

5) Young-generation- 59 per cent of children aged between 14 years and 17 years eat

packaged beverages or food at least once a day in India. So, they are moving towards

an unhealthy eating habit. The decision of what meal they consume of these young

generation people is still in the hand of their parents. If Ready-to-eat brands market in

the way that it is thought of as a healthy product. It will be a supportive argument in

the favour of a product.

Marketing Strategies

1) Food varieties regionally- India has a huge population. And it is said that the eating

habits of an Indian consumer change every 60 km. So, India has a huge variety of

foods and preferences. The eating habits in North India is completely different than

they have in East, West and South. So, they can regional food varieties for the

different consumers having different food preferences according to a region. It will

also improve brand awareness across the nation.

2) Product varieties- If we talking about food, people seek variety not only restrained to

the Indian food but meals from the other countries as well. They go to the restaurants

to have those meals. Ready-to-eat brands should add such varieties in their product

mix and it will cater to larger audiences like the young generation, senior citizens, etc.

It will increase the customer base for a brand. It will provide Hedonic benefits to a

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 consumer. And it will help the brands who are not the market leaders as they love to

have variety-seeking behaviour.

3) Nutrition- They have to market their product in a way that it will appeal to a

consumer as it is a healthy and nutritious product. They have to create a reference

point that they produce is better and it will not affect their health if consumed for a

longer period. They can use packaging to show how nutritious a product is.

4) Increase involvement- As mentioned in the course-pack article “ready-to-eat brands,

not yet a palatable concept”, that Indian mothers wanted to have control what she is

serving on the plates of her family members. So, these brands have to come up with

ideas to make these customers involve in the cooking process. So, their negative

attitude towards these brands will decrease. For example- the IKEA- Do it yourself

model. For the young generation, they can have something for fun like a toy or a fake

tattoo.

5) Remove barriers- As mentioned in the course-pack article “ready-to-eat brands, not

yet a palatable concept”, that most middle house consumers don’t own a microwave.

So, the research and development department have to remove this barrier for a

consumer. They have to make a product that a consumer can make on a gas stove as

well as in a microwave. For example- Act 2 popcorn.

6) 2-sided appeal- Ready-to-eat brands can advertise their products by 2-sided appeal.

If we compare RTE products with homemade meals, the product will not look good

but if we compare it with junk food or restaurant food, it will come up good. For

example- Britannia compare biscuit with healthy vegetables and a doughnut.

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 References

1) https://www.themarkes.com/post/how-can-ready-to-eat-and-ready-to-cook-mixes-be-

marketed-better

2) https://aswathicherkkil.medium.com/marketing-ready-to-eat-products-17eb60e8e13b

3) https://www.netscribes.com/ready-to-eat-market-in-india-growth-trends-challenges-

and-key-trends/

4) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/consumer-behaviour-analysis-ready-eat-rte-products-

india-geeta-p/

5) https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/junk-food-becoming-menace-in-india-

data-points-to-dangerous-increase-in-consumption/1679596/

6) https://www.sheerid.com/blog/how-to-market-to-seniors/

7) file:///C:/Users/AalokSingla/Downloads/18_7cdd7fede443cc4020a869a6ea94e58a.pd

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