Parle Essays

Parle Essays Parle Essay Parle Essay the company has definitely come a very long way since its inception. Many of the Parle products biscuits or confectioneries, are market leaders in their category and have won acclaim at the Monde Selection, since 1971. With a 40% share of the total biscuit market and a 15% share of the total confectionary market in India , Parle has grown to become a multi-million dollar company. While to consumers its a beacon of faith and trust, competitors look upon Parle as an example of marketing brilliance. Parle-G Every nation dreams of a better tomorrow. And every nation’s tomorrow lies in the hands of its children; children who make the nation proud in every aspect; the young geniuses who shape the future of the nation. So it’s important to nourish these young minds, for after all it’s a question of the nation’s future. Filled with the goodness of milk and wheat, Parle G is a source of strength for both body and mind. Treat yourself to a packet of Parle-G to experience what has nurtured and strengthened the minds of millions of genius Indians for over 65 years. It’s more than just a biscuit. A meal substitute for some, a tasty and healthy snack for many others. Consumed by some for the value it offers, and many others for it’s taste. Little wonder that it’s the Largest selling Biscuit Brand in the world. Ingredients : Wheat Flour, Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Edible Vegetable Oils, Invert Syrup*, Leavening Agents [ 503 ( ii ), 500 ( ii ) ], Salt, Milk Solids, Emulsifiers [ 322 or 471 481 ( i ) ] and Dough Conditioners [ 223 ]. Contains Added Flavours (Artificial). * (d Glucose, Levulose) Pack Sizes available: 16. 5G, 38. 5G, 60. 5G, 82. 5G, 99G, 209G, 313. 5G, 418G, 825G Parle G largest selling biscuit brand in world If you thought that a typical family run Indian company cannot top the worldwide charts, think again. The homegrown biscuit brand, Parle G, has proved the belief wrong by becoming the largest selling biscuit brand in the world. Ajay Chauhan, executive director of Parle Products, told Business Standard: The more than 50-year-old brand, Parle G, has been rated as the largest selling glucose biscuit brand in the whole world in terms of volumes. This came as a surprise to us when we were made to understand that we have topped the worldwide charts of the global biscuits industry. This was recently revealed by the US based Bakery Manufacturers Association. The other global biscuit brands include Oreo from Nabisco and McVities from UK-based United Biscuits among others. According to ORG-MARG reports, Parle G commands a good 65 per cent market share in the domestic biscuit market. The glucose biscuits category in India is estimated at Rs 15 billion. The Parle G brand faces competition from Britannias Tiger brand of biscuits. The companys flagship brand, Parle G, contributes more than 50 per cent to the companys total turnover. The other biscuits in the Parle Products basket includes Monaco, Krack Jack, Marie, Hide n Seek, Cheeslings, Jeffs, Sixer and Fun Centre. Said Chauhan: The core brands of the company in the biscuit category will include only Parle G, Monaco and Krack Jack. The other brands will not be aggressively supported by us in the market. This is because these three brands contribute substantially to our topline, Chauhan added. The confectionery business, which is the other division of Parle Products, currently contributes only 15 per cent to the companys total turnover. Interestingly, the company started operations with the confectionery business in 1929. Chauhan elucidated: The confectionery business has now taken a backseat and has become a smaller part of our business because in India biscuits have a larger market. The company commands a 40 per cent marketshare in the Rs 35 billion biscuit market in India. In the confectionery segment, the company enjoys a mere 15 per cent marketshare. The companys confectionery portfolio comprises brands like Melody 2 in 1, MangoBite, Poppins, Rol-a-cola, Kismi, Rosemint, Peppermint, Orange candy, Fruit Drops, Pick n Pack and Tangy. Chauhan has picked up three core brands from this category as well, they being Melody 2 in 1, Poppins and MangoBite. Its a brand that has held its price line at Rs 4 for 25 years now the price was last raised in 1994 by 25 paise. So, its not for nothing that Parle-G is the worlds largest-selling biscuit by volumes. Not that the company didnt try to raise prices to offset the overall hike in costs. Three years ago it did so, but quickly rolled it back after volumes fell sharply and consumers wrote to lodge their protest. We want to cater to the masses and have consciously tried not to increase the price. Parle-G is available for Rs 50 a kg. There are very few food items that are available for Rs 50-60 a kg, says Pravin Kulkarni, general manager (marketing), Parle Products. Parle is, of course, not doing it for charity. Soaring input prices meant it opted for reducing the weight of the biscuit than increasing the price first from 100 gm to 92. gm in January 2008, and then to 88 gm in January this year in line with other biscuit-makers and FMCG players. Regular customers would have noticed the number of biscuits in a pack come down from 16 to 15 even as each biscuit became lighter, but they seemed to understand the cost pressures on the firm. The gamble paid off: Parle was able to sustain its volumes. Strict cost control at every point in its supply chain also helped Parle ent ered into forward contracts with suppliers, outsourced production, increased the number of manufacturing locations to 60 and consolidated buying. Raw material costs account for 60 per cent of the total costs in this segment and packaging costs (plastic films) account for 20-25 per cent of this. Nirmalaya Kumar, professor of marketing at London [ Images ] Business School, feels its a very smart strategy. At this price point, price becomes more important than the weight of the biscuit. Its very interesting and similar to the dollar stores in the US, he says. But price is not its only USP. What makes the Parle G brand tick is also that it has been positioned on the health platform (a single pack of biscuit offers 450 calories). Its earlier punchline was Parle-G: swadh bhare, shakti bhare (full of taste and energy). Currently, the brand uses two punchlines. Parle-G: G for Genius and Hindustan ki Taakat (the countrys strength). The brand, says Kulkarni, meets different needs of customers: calories (energy), nutrition and value-for-money enough reasons why Parle-G enjoys close to 70 per cent market share in the glucose biscuit category and probably has the deepest reach. It reaches 2. 5 million outlets, including villages with a population of 500 people, on a par with Unilevers Lifebuoy, ITCs cigarettes or mobile pre-paid cards. Its also one of the few FMCG brands in the country, whose customers straddle across income segments. The brand is estimated to be worth over Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion), and contributes more than 50 per cent of the companys turnover (Parle Products is an unlisted company and its executives are not comfortable disclosing exact numbers). Last fiscal, Parle had sales of Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion). Competition has, of course, been trying to wean away customers from Parle. Britannia [ Get Quote ] relaunched its Glucose-D biscuit as Tiger in 1995 and boasts of 17-18 per cent share, while ITCs Sunfeast glucose has captured 8-9 per cent, according to industry sources. Even Levers had forayed into this segment in 2003 and launched a glucose biscuit branded as Modern, after it acquired the bakery business of Modern. There are strong regional brands, including Priya Gold (west), Cremica (north) and Anmol (east). But they still have their work cut out. Nirmalaya Kumar feels the Parle-G story is so fascinating that it deserves to be a case study. What would be interesting to see is whether it will be able to retain its leadership in the coming years as income grows in the hinterlands and consumers upgrade and develop new tastes. The popular Parle-G, glucose biscuits from Parle Products, have witnessed a price hike after a gap of nine years. The company’s marketing manager Pravin Kulkarni said that over these years Parle-G’s price has not increased even as inflation has resulted in a increase in the cost of other products. The price hike, which was decided just before the Budget and was implemented about 10 days ago, has taken up the price of a 100 gm Parle-G pack from Rs four to Rs 4. 0, while that of the 50 gm pack from Rs two to Rs 2. 50. An analyst with a leading brokerage firm in Mumbai said that the move, not exactly related to the Budget, is good for the company and is expected to go down well with the consumers. Arch rival, Britannia Industries, is likely to adopt a wait-and-watch policy for some time, be fore increasing the prices of its glucose biscuit brand, Tiger. Mr Kulkarni said that till now there has been no impact on sales, even as it is too early to observe any further effect. He added that the consumers also understand the need for a price hike after so many years. The company does not have plans at the moment for price increases in any other brands. The organised biscuit market in India is estimated to be over Rs 3000 crore. Britannia, the market leader, is said to have about 45 per cent market share, with Parle close behind at about 30-35 per cent. Another major brand is Priya Gold from Surya Foods, while the smaller brands include Sunfeast from ITC and Champion. The unorganised market comprising very small regional brands and unbranded biscuits and naankhataai, is showing a declining trend over the years, according to analysts.