Executive summary

Ice cream market is expanding rapidly, the reason behind this is entrance of manyplayers in market in turn result into increase competition. Because in increase incompetition only the fittest player have survived. The company, which sets its goals and objectives according to market condition and prepares strategies so as to achieve these goals, will survive in the long run.

The above has given us a slight preview of competition in the market.I have done this project to study how major player (Amul) is surviving in the market and is giving tough competition to other players.

This project is divided into following parts :

1) Deals with what is co-operative organisation.

2) Informatiouln on MNC’ in India.

3) Over view on:-

Marketing Stratergy of amul ice cream.

4) Market share.

5) Major players.

6) Lastly primary data has been collected through small sample size done on consumer behaviour with respect to ice cream industry, to show which company will survive in near future.

In this project I have tried to handle various conceptual, theoretical, and practical aspect related to various types of strategies am sure this project will provide a good study material for any management student.

INTRODUCTION

OBJECTIVE

Objective of the Study:1. To understand the concept of marketing strategy of amul.

2. Analyze how marketing strategyl of amul is effective is today’s market.

3. Study the various aspects related to amul management.

To position the brand in the mind of customer.

Gathering and disseminating relevant information to customers.

4. Understanding and fulfilling the expressed and latest needs of customers buying

behavior

Introduction of ‘AMUL’

AMUL means "priceless" in Sanskrit. A quality control expert in

Anand suggested the brand name “Amul,” from the Sanskrit “Amoolya,”

Variants, all meaning "priceless", are found in several Indian languages.

Amul products have been in use in millions of homes since 1946. Amul

Butter, Amul Milk Powder, Amul Ghee, Amulspray, Amul Cheese, Amul

Chocolates, Amul Shrikhand, Amul Ice cream, Nutramul, Amul Milk and

Amulya have made Amul a leading food brand in India (turnover in

18.8billiond in 1997-98). Today Amul is a symbol of many things. Of high-

quality products sold at reasonable prices. Of the genesis of a vast co-

operative network. Of the triumph of indigenous technology. Of the

marketing savvy of a farmers' organisation. And of a proven model for

dairy development.

AMUL has diversified into 40 product categories. Their distribution

comprises of 2400 wholesale distributors with 5 lakh retail outlets, 50 sales

offices with an annual turnover of Rs. 22.6 billion in sales.

‘Amul’ has to compete with almost 6 to 8 transnationals in the marketplace. It s

main competitors are: -

CADBURY - CHOCALETS/ CONFECTIONERS

HINDUSTAN LEVER - ICE CREAM

NESTLE - BUTTER, INFANT MILK SUSTITUES,

CHOCALETS, CURD, CHEESE ETC

BRITANIA -BUTTER, PANEER, LIQUID FRESH MILK,

DAIRY WHITENERS.

Some Of The Well Known Amul Products:

BUTTER FRESH MILK CHEESE SHIKAND

MILK FOOD HEALTH DRINK ICE-CREAM CHOCOLATES

SOUPS PANEER DAHI PIZZA

GHEE MITHAEE

Amul Ice Cream:

Amul has been the latest entrant in the national ice cream market. It has

launched milk-based ice cream under its flagship brand Amul in January 1997.

Amul has a distinct edge over existing new entrants on several counts.

Milk Procurement:

Advantages in procurement of milk the key raw-material in ice-cream. Milk

supply in India is largely controlled by the regional milk co-operatives. GCMMF

itself is the western region. Besides procurement from other regional co-

operatives is also easier for GCMMF as compared top other players. Infact, Amul

has a tie-up with the Karnataka milk marketing federation, which manufactures

ice cream on behalf of GCMMF, which is marketed under the Amul brand name.

Comparative Pricing:

GCMMF can procure milk at lower prices thus Amul ice cream has been launched at a substantial price discount to main competitor Kawality Walls & Vadilal. This has helped in attaining a good volume grown in short time span.

Brand awareness is high:

The Amul brand has a strong equity in milk products and GCMMF has

engaged to beverages on this brand equity and attained over 20% market share

in Mumbai within a year of its launch.

Established distribution network:

GCMMF already has a wide retail distribution network, which markets its

other milk products such as cheese and butter. Hence distribution reach the

single most important factor in creating a critical mass is already available.

Presently Amul ice cream has second higher share in the market (35%)

and has garnered major share in its existing markets in a short time span of 3

years, it also has a high brand recall. The company has a total of seven ice-

cream manufacturing units; three are in Gujarat, one each in Delhi, Patna &

Bangalore and another one in Tarapur. GCMMF’s main ice-cream manufacturing

facility is located at Ghandinagar which is Asia’s largest and most modern

integrated ice-cream manufacturing plant for users world renowned refrigeration

units for an efficient cold chain. The company is also said to be in talks with co-

operative federation of UP and MP for contract manufacturing its ice cream in

Lucknow and Ujjain daries. Amul is planning to acquire basically ice-cream

facility of Vadilal industries limited. The acquisition would help Amul to increase

its presence in northern and eastern markets of the country. This would be

second such acquisition of Vadilal’s ice-cream facility by Amul. Earlier in 1997

the company has acquired Tarapur based production facility. The current

planned acquisition would add 15k litres per day capacity to maul are

consolidated of 1.5 lakh lpd. With the aim of increasing presence of its ice-cream

across the country Amul is going for contract manufacturing arrangement with

milk co-operatives of various regions is also acquiring some of the existing ice-

cream manufacturing units. The company has set a target of Rs. 5bn turnover

from ice-cream business by 2003.

Amul ice-cream brand franchise was extended with launch in eight states

and two union territories. For the regional markets GCMMF was collaborated with

various regional dairy co-operative like mother dairy (Delhi) for the northern

market, mother dairy (Bangalore) for the southern market and Patna dairy

project which commenced production from April’ 98 for the eastern market.

List Of Amul Icecreams:

Royal Treat Range: Rajbhog, Cappuchino, Choc chips,

Butterscotch, Tutii fruti.

Nut-o-Mania Range: Kaju Drakshi, Kesar Pista, Roasted

Almond, Kesar, Carnival, Badshahi

Badarn Kulfi, Shista Pista Kulfi.

Utsav Range: Anjir, Roasted Almond.

Simply Delicious Range: Vanilla, Strawberry, Pineapple,

Chocolate.

Nature's Treat: Alpllanso Mango, Fresh Litchi, Anjir,

Fresh Strawberry, Black Currant.

SundaeRange: Mango,BlackCurrant,Chocolate,

Strawberry.

Millennium Icecream: Cheese with Almonds, Dates with

Honey.

Milk Bars: Chocobar, Mango Dolly, Raspberry

Dolly, Shahi Badam Kulfi, Shahi Pista

Kulfi, Mawa Malai Kulfi, Green Pista-

Kulfi

Cool Candies: Orange, Mango.

Tricone Cones: Butterscotch, Chocolate.

Frostik: 3 layer chocolate Bar.

Fundoo Range: exclusively for kids.

SlimScoop Fat Free: Vanilla, Banana, Mango, Pineapple.

Distribution Channel Of Amul Ice-Cream:

Amul has total seven ice-cream production units spread over the entire

country, three are in Gujarat, one each in Delhi, Patna and Bangalore. In these

factories different Amul ice-creams products are being produced to fulfil the

consumer demand. After the ice-cream are ready they are being despatch to the

C & F agents, these agents are not same as the retailer and wholesaler because

these agents don’t get fixed margin as in the case of retailer and wholesaler.

They charge the company for all the kinds of the expense, which they have

incurred for the distribution of the ice cream. Such as salaries, and other

expenses over and above they charge some extra amount (not fixed) for

rendering their services. From here the ice cream are being supplied to the

wholesaler, which are spread across the country. These whosaler has near about

7.8% to 8.0 % margin. Then these ice cream comes to the retail out-let. Here

retailer get approximately 19 % to 21% margin. And finally the consumers get

the taste of ice cream as a where they want.

Distribution Chart Of ‘Amul’ Ice-Cream

Market Size And Growth:

Ice creams are available in various forms such as cone, cups, bar (candy),

Clearing & forwarding Agent.

Retailer

party pack etc. Candy sticks account for about 25-30% of volumes, whereas cups

and other novelties contribute the rest.

Frozen desserts market in India is very small and refers to vegetable fat

(instead of milk fat) based ice creams. Besides, a wider range of frozen desserts

is also made in-house and served in 5 star hotels.

The ice-cream market growth during the late '80s and in the early '90s

was very low at around 2-3% pa but slowly the market has started picking up

especially after de-reservation of the sector in 1997. For last 1-2 years the ice

cream market in India is growing at 15-20% per annum and presently in 1999-00

it is estimated at worth of Rs15-16bn. This growth rate is expected to continue

for another next 2-3 years because of lower base. Of the total size of Rs 15-16bn,

around 30-32% is in the hands of organized sector valued at Rs4.9bn; rest all is

with the unorganised sector. The growth rate could have been even higher but

for poor infrastructure, high excise duty I sales tax etc. Excise on ice cream was

increased from 13% to 16% in the FY2000 budget.

Market growth historically was stunted by Government policies. Till

1997, ice cream manufacture was reserved for small-scale sector. The

leading players were unable to invest adequately to develop an

infrastructure of cold chain for storage and distribution. Erratic supply and

shortage of power in most parts of the country have been the major

factors limiting growth of a cold chain. As a result, there was a dearth of

good quality products in the market and also lack of adequate

infrastructure to distribute the same. Cadbury had entered the market in

1992 with its Dollops brand, but was unsuccessful in building up a

significant franchise and withdrew two years later. In the absence of any

competition from MNC’s, local players were able to build up a strong

franchise in respective local areas. Some of the players built up their

market through exclusive parlours. But in most cases parlour network also

could not extend beyond local limits.

At the beginning of first phase of liberalization, Hindustan Lever (HLL) entered the market through frozen dessert route. Frozen desserts (which use edible oil fat instead of milk fat) were technically not reserved for small scale. Amul ice cream, manufactured by the largest milk-producing co-operative was introduced in Mumbai market in 1996, intensifying the competition. In 1997, the sector was dereserved from small scale, based on the recommendations of the Abid Hussain Committee report, on grounds of hygiene and technology. Removal of licensing restrictions and investment by new players in capacity and market expansion is expected to lead to rapid demand growth in the sector.

Market Shares:

Hindustan Lever has a market share of around 50%, represented mainly

by Kwality Walls brand. It has introduced the Max range of ice creams targeted

at children. Amul is the second largest player at the national level, with an

estimated market share of 35% and is rapidly gaining market share. Vadilal is

another player in the national market with 8-9% of the market share but that too

is shrinking.

Major Players:

The Indian Ice cream market is dominated by a large number of small local

manufacturers and regional players. There are an estimated 150 manufacturers

in the organized segment, which accounts for 30-35% of sales and about 2000

units in the unorganised market.

In the organized segment, the significant brands are Kwality Walls, Vadilal,

Amul, Mother Dairy and Baskin Robbins.

Major National Players Brands

Hindustan Lever Kwality Walls, Dairy classic, Cornetto,

Magnum

Vadilal International Vadilal, Dairy FreshGCMMF/Other milk Amul, Mother Dairy

Maharashtra Dairy Products Baskin Robbins

Other Players: Besides the main national brands there are other premium

brands, which have carved a niche for themselves in their respective regional

markets. These players have mostly concentrated on the large metro cities.

These players sell through their exclusive parlours. The major national players

sell through franchise parlours as well as through retail stores, groceries,

restaurants, hotels, roadside stalls on highways, etc...

Region Brand

East Tulika, Rollicks (Induss Ice creams)

West Nature World, Pastonji, Naturals (Mumbai only),

Dinshaw’s (Maharashtra only),

Havmor (Gujarat only),

Yum of Dairy Den (Gujarat Only)

North Mother Dairy, Nirula's

South Arun (Hatsun Foods), Joy, Nandini

(Karnataka only)

Mumbai has several players such as Nature World, Naturals, Ice-cream

Express, Dinshaw's, etc which are priced at a premium over the Kwality Walls

and Amul brands

Arun, promoted by Hatsun Foods Pvt. Ltd, is a dominant brand in the

South. Arun sells its ice creams through exclusive parlours, which are popular in

the southern cities.

Joy, another marginal national player has a stronger presence in the

South. Together, Joy and! run have a sizable presence in the Southern markets of

Chennai and Tamil Nadu.

Nirula's is a strong local player in Delhi. Mother Dairy the Delhi version of the Amul brand also has a strong presence in the Northern region.

MARKET STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY DIFFERENT ICE-CREAM MAKERS

.

All the players, Kwality walls, Vadilal, Cadburys, amul, milk food,joy,arun,and various hotelchains & local brands are suddenly in the thick of fight. The top brands like kwallity, amul, vadilal, & Cadbury in particular are locked in afierce bottle, churning up new products, new flavour & new promotional campaigns . and a number of new players including Britannia industries, brooke bond, lipton & the national dairy development-board have entered field recently. The these strong players intensified the competition further. So they adopted different market strategies as follows:-

a) KWALLITY OPTS FOR PRODUCT INNOVATION:Kwality, the market-leader with a 50% share among national brands, went in for process/product innovation. It has introduced the soft freeze process which enables the preservation of fruits inside the ice-cream fresh and juicy. It concentrated on selling its ice-cream to the retail trade explaining to them quality unmatched product strength. Through exclusive parlors, Kwality tried to secure yet another edge. Kwality expanded its network of Yankee Doodles parlors, especially in the states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujrat, Haryana and Kerala.

b) VADILAL CONCENTRATES ON ‘SELLING TO HOUSEHOLD’

Vadilal suggests new recipes to households and cleverly pushed its family and party packs among the home-consumer segment. It offered attractive discounts on party and family packs. Vadilal put market research to good use. Vadilal researched the product profiles, markets, consumers and competition. It spent nearly 1 crore rupees just for redesigning the Vadilal logo. It also used the fund-food idea and targeted the products at middle and upper class audiences through high visibility ad campaigns. In selected cities it offered lower price suffering loses, just to grab market.

c) CADBURY’S DOLLOPS RELIES ON PROMOTION:-It started pushing its products through aggressive advertising. It also

started opening new parlors in untapped market. It also went for joint promotion and strategic alliances. It tied up with Citibank and launched a gift scheme. Citi card holders would win points on dollops 4 get gifts on reaching a specified score. Summer jobs were offered at Dollops-Lopstops parlors to teenage children of citi card holders. An extension of a 25% discount on purchaces for birthday parties was another scheme. Obviously, the aim was to win brand loyalty from among a captive audience of 3 lakh Citibank card holders. Dollops tied up with music giant

HMV and came out with a special promotion aimed at the new MTV generations of consumers. Dollops launched its new range, heroes, Arabian Date, Hawaiian Sundae keeping the prices 20% lower, compared to the earlier range. Dollops also promoted its new ‘Dial-a-lop’ scheme. In this scheme, Dollops would deliver the ice-cream at no extra cost.

d) REGIONAL BRANDS STRIVE HARD TOOArun Ice cream, a leading regional brand, intensified its distribution and

promotion. It had already become the largest selling ice cream in Tamil Nadu and started gaining ground in Kerala and Karnataka. Arun put up a large chain of ice cream parlors in all these states. Using the parlors, Arun made the non-metro politician towns like Madurai and Tiruchi important ice cream markets. Arun promoted the brand through distribution of leaflets and door-to-door campaigns. Arun also made a number of innovative sales promotion efforts to stay ahead. It organized ‘ice cream meals’ in which one could eat as much ice cream as one really could eat within 25 minutes, paying just Rs.15. Arun too want in for the dial delivery service.

Among the other players, the hotel-chains form a significant segment. The Indian Hotels co. (the Taj Group) has been one significant player in this segment. They added to the competition with their offei of the ‘pure gold’ ice cream.

COMPETITION FROM LOCAL

The history of dairy co-operatives is not very old in India. In 1930s&40s isolated efforts for organizing co-operatives were formed in some parts of the country such as Allahabad, Tamil Nadu & Gujarat. But it had negligible impact on overall dairy practice.

Since late 1920s government milk colonies were established by municiple co-orporation in large cities which promoted huge dairy farms in their peripheries, eg: Bombay had its milk colony at agarey. It was at this stage that R.A peparall, the Milk Marketing Advisors to the government of Indian c ities contain high bacterial count than sewerage water in London. As a result separate department of milk commissionerater were aerated with the state government to hasten the place of dairy of dairy development. The milk sub-committee of the policy committee an agriculture (1950) recommended for the monopolization of milk supply & distribution through milk control boards.

By the end of the 1960s however it was clear that the india of city milk scheme was unworkable as they found it difficult to complete the dudhias who delever the fresh milk at the door step of the customers. Thus , throughout the 1950s & the 1960s official policies in dairy processing & marketing militated against the goals of official policy in the animal husbandary. This all gave birth to dairy co-operatives in India.

Co-operatives in the India dairy sector predated the rise of Amul by over two decades. The earliest dairy co-operative was found around 1930s in Allahabad with milk & ghee traders as its members. Dairy co-operatives also came up in erode district of Tamil Nadu, in surat district of Gujarat& maharashtra. Most of this co-operatives were organization of milk merchants.

COMPETITIONS OF MNC’S IN INDIA

In India comparatively very little foreign investment has taken place

due to several reasons such as dominant role assigned to the public

sector in the industrial policy and the restrictive government policy.

A common criticism against the MNC’s is that they tend to invest in the

low priority and high profits sectors in the developing countries, ignoring the

national priorities. However, in Indian the government policy confined the foreign

investment to the priority areas like technology and heavy investment sectors of

national importance and export sectors. Firms which had been established in no

priority areas prior to the implementation of this policy have, however, been

allowed to continue in those sectors.

An often heard criticism against the is that multinationals drain the foreign

exchange resources of the developing countries. This approach toward MNC’s is

into right approach to estimate the net impact of multinationals on the foreign

exchange reserves by taking the net foreign exchange outflow or inflow. If a

multinational is operating in an import substitution industry, the net effect on the

foreign exchange reserves could be favourable even if there is a net foreign

exchange outflow by the company.

Multinationals in several developing countries make sustention

contribution to the exports earnings. The performance in the case of India has,

however, been very dismal. This is attributed mostly to the government policy.

“We have consistently followed policies in India that discriminate against export

production and in favour of production for the local market.

However the new policy is expected to give a considerable impetus for

MNC’s investment in India.

Again it is wrong to assume that the success of multinationals or

Foreign brands is guaranteed in a developing countries and that the

domestic firms, particularly the small ones, will not be able to survive the

competition from them.

Market Segmentation Of Ice-Cream

Indian Ice Cream market can be segmented in three different ways,

namely on the basis of flavours; on the basis of stock keeping

units/packaging and on the basis of consumer segments.

1) On The Basis Of Flavours:

The market today has a number of flavours like vanilla, strawberry,

chocolate, mango, butterscotch a number of fruit flavours, dry fruit

flavours, traditional flavours like Kesar- Pista, Kaju- Draksh etc.

The market is totally dominated by Vanilla, Strawberry and

chocolate, which together account for more than 70% of the market

followed by butterscotch and other fruit flavours.

2) On The Basis Of The Stock Keeping Units / Packing:

Taking different types of packaging in to consideration does this type of segmentation.

In it the ice-cream market is divided into packages such as:

a) Bulk: bulk can be said as huge packs of ice-cream which are

normally supplied to ice-cream out-lets or retailers they are mainly

in the pack of 4-5 litres.

b) Cups: cups are small packs of ice cream normally round in shape

at bottom and flat on the top. These packs are available in different

size such as 500ml, 300ml, 200ml etc. This segment also consists of

balls, impulse and sticks.

c) Cones: Eg- Cornetto, tri-cone.

d) Family pack and party pack: Mainly for families and parties.

e) Sticks and candies: Eg- feast, chocobar, and frostik.

3) On The Basis Of Consumer:

Present market is known as consumer market hence before

segmenting any kind of the product this aspect should be considered. In

the case of ice-cream products, it is divided into following categories,

1) Impulse segment (Pull cart).

2) Retail (Home take-aways).

3) Institutional/catering.

4) Parlours

While institutional or catering accounts for around 15%, retail and impulse

combinedly take the major chunk with 70% of the market.

HLL today has identified four key segments in the market and has specific

brands for each of them. Max is for children; Feast aims at teenagers; and

Cornetto targets young adults. Recently the company launched softies for the

lower end of the market. The company has also launched its premium brands

like Magnum, Venetta etc targeted at the top end of the market.

Swot Analysis Of Amul Ice Cream

Strengths:

1) Biggest sourcing base for milk and milk products in India.

2) India’s best-known local brand across all categories.

3) 35% market share in the national ice cream market

4) Presence of a well-established distribution and delivery network for dairy

products.

5) Penetration pricing strategy-Amul is the price warrior in the ice cream

market and currently has a very wide range to offer for all price points.

6) Research has shown that consumers in India prefer dairy ice cream rather

than frozen desserts and Amul has a wide portfolio in the dairy ice cream

segment.

7) Kwality walls, Amul’s main rival, have been able to extend its cold chain in

only about 150 out of 300 class I towns. Whereas Amul has presence in

almost all towns because towns because of it already exist butter lines.

8) Customer is most comfortable buying ice cream in the value for money

segment and Amul is well present in this segment.

9) Amul has built up a formidable image as a brand in which generations of

consumers have placed their trust. This can be used to its advantage while

introduction of ice creams.

Weakness:

1) Advertising is low profile, as the results of our survey show. Majority of

respondents has not heard of Amul ice cream. Kwality Walls on the other

hand is into heavy advertising and consequently, is popular.

2) A major entry barrier Amul faces is Kwality Walls heavy presence in the

retail market in Delhi. Walls are present in 456 outlets out of a total of 610

and Amul would have a tough time getting a foothold in the retail market.

3) As per our survey, retailers list a credible Replacement policy as a factor

very high on their wish list. They would be willing to make further

investments only for that brand which offers replacement facilities. Amul

has no replacement policy.

4) Retailers now demand freezers without having to pay any deposit. This is

especially true of those retailers who already stock one or other ice cream

brands.

Opportunities:

1) Delhi market is not restricted to monopoly outlets. There are a significant

number of retailers who are currently stocking more than two brands. This

is in Amul’s favor, as earlier it had to overcome this problem in the

Mumbai market.

2) There is ample scope in the low priced segment as also in other categories

where consumers presently are dissatisfied with the quantity being

provided vis a vis the price being charged.

3) Amul has the opportunity to capture the more evolved young adults and

children

Who are open to new products provided they meet their expectations.

4) Kwality Walls is right now in an investment mode and is concentrating on

expanding the market as also its reach. Amul should direct its resources

towards cashing in on Walls market development.

5) Distributors are dissatisfied with the margin and customer support

services currently being provided in the market. This can be used to

Amul’s advantage. Mother dairy is extremely apathetic to retailers and

there is a gap to be exploite

Threats:

1) Amul might face threat from the local manufacturers in the low and of the

market.

2) The customers have very well received Kwality Walls product

differentiation strategy and mother dairy is also pushing up its advertising

pitch.

3) We have identified banquet halls as a segment of the market, which Amul

can exploit as the supply, is unorganised as yet and the owners are only

concerned with the profit margin, as the brand does not matter. As of now,

local manufacturers supply to these banquet halls.

THE SUCCESS STORY OF AMUL

Men & women in Bombay were suffering for persistent tummy problems. They called an exprt from England. After studing the subject, the experts pronounce that gutter water of London was bacteriologically superior to the milk of Bombay. It was therefore decided to bring from some villages Khaira district, an area about 400 km north of Bombay. A private firm has given monopoly of milk procurement rights in these village & then supply milk to the government for distribution in Bombay. This firm appointed contractors to collect the milk and as they constituted monopoly.

Angered by this state of affaires, the farmers called a strike & refuse to supply milk.political leaders such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Morarji Desai & Tribhuvandar Patel encouraged the farmer to form a co-operative, collect milk in the district & supply to the government. The co-operative began with an initial collection of just 250 litres of milk per day.This was the beginning of Kaira District Co-operative.milk producers union better known by its trade name of ‘AMUL’.

Amul collect milk from all the villages in Kaira District, preserved it & sold it into the market were the price was high, thus providing higher price to milk producers. Since milk is highly perishable commodity & since all milk could not be sold in a fluid form, they convert milk in milk powder & other products.

Articles

Amul, HLL fight for top spot in ice-cream market

This summer, the contrasts in the battle for supremacy in the ice-cream

market could not have been more stark. It was the head-on collision of a

home-grown cooperative with a multinational. While one went in for

geographical expansion at break-neck speed, the other consolidated at an

equally rapid pace. While one tailor-made products for every conceivable

sub-segment, the other streamline offerings.

Ice-cream brands Amul from the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing

Federation and Kwality Walls from Hindustan Lever definitely went their

own separate ways this summer. And each claims to have emerged the

leader.

Amul claimed a market share of 33.42 per cent (Amul 24.75 per cent and

Mother Dairy 8.66 per cent) and put the Kwality Walls share at 28.22 per

cent. Says R S Sodhi, general manager (marketing), "In a short span of

five years Amul has become the largest ice-cream brand in the country.

We have already touched the sales figure of Kwality Walls."

HLL in turn quotes ORG (value) figures for April 2002 to claim leadership

in all six markets it is focusing on. The share ranges from 33.7 per cent in

Bangalore to 58.8 per cent in Hyderabad. HLL's decision to focus on six

cities follows from its estimates that they account for 60 per cent of all ice

cream sales.

Amul, in contrast, has spread out in 400 markets and claims to be ahead of

Kwality Walls in 395 of these. Mumbai remains a disputed territory with both

companies claiming top slot. Clearly, Amul has decided to grow the Rs 2,000

crore ice cream market in India. "We have prepared a marketing strategy based

on our inherent strength of low price raw material (milk) availability," says Mr

Sodhi. The raw material strength also determined its punch line 'Real Milk Real

Ice Cream.'

V/S

HLL, Amul dispute ice- cream numbers

Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation has claimed that its Amul ice creams have

outperformed Hindustan Lever’s Kwality Walls at the national level by achieving a marketshare of 30

per cent compared to HLL’s share of 19 per cent.

HLL, however, contests the figures. It quotes an audit by A C Nielsen which says that HLL has a market share of 38.3 per cent by value for the full year 2002 in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai, which together account for over 60 per cent of India’s ice cream sales. Amul’s market share, it says, is only16.7 per cent.

Last year, HLL had decided to restrict its operations in the top six metros in the country and claims it has a larger market share in each of these locations.

The audit adds that if the vending channel (push carts) is taken into consideration, HLL’s market share is over 50 per cent.

HLL’s audited results say that its net realisation from the ice cream division came down from Rs 156.39 crore by selling 24 million litres in 2001 to 107crore from 16.5 million litres in 2002.

Amul claims that, in comparison, its net realisation went up from Rs 120 crore by selling 18 million litres in 2001 to Rs 150 crore with the sale of 24.5 million litres in 2002.

HLL says the Rs 150-crore turnover claimed by Amul for 2002 is in terms of end consumer prices and HLL’s turnover by the same method would be around Rs 210 crore.

Amul expects to clock sales of 34 million litres during the current year by offering value for money.

Amul will launch a mega bite almond cone (the largest volume cone in the country), an orange ice cream ‘Santra Mantra’, a ‘Bouncer’ ice cream with nuts and essential proteins, vitamins and minerals for the growing

children, a cheese ice cream and a sundae in cone for kids in different variants.

Ice-cream, hot battles

IT'S a Cold War out there. And this summer, it promises to be the fiercest ever the domestic ice-cream industry has seen.

Both Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) and Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GMCCF) have already locked horns over their respective brands, Kwality Wall's and Amul, claiming to be market leaders in the Rs 1,000-crore domestic ice-cream business, of which the organised sector accounts for Rs 650 crore.

The third contender in the Big Fight, National Dairy Development Board's (NDDB's) Mother Dairy, is engaged in a pitched battle with erstwhile associate GCMMF. NDDB's Mother Dairy milk booths are not selling competing Amul's products any more. Also, NDDB has decided to float a subsidiary marketing company, Mother Dairy Foods Ltd, to partner with State dairy co-operative federations in the form of joint ventures. NDDB is further strengthening its marketing and finance divisions, has been in expansion mode on the product front for Mother Dairy ice-creams, and has undertaken a large-scale exercise to revamp its ice-cream push-carts.

HLL, which is expected to turn around its Rs 210-crore ice-cream business in 2003, recently announced its decision to focus on six cities - the four metros and Bangalore and Hyderabad. While analysts view this as a cautious move on the company's part, J. H. Mehta, Executive Director (Ice-cream Division), HLL, explains, "Two-thirds of our ice-cream turnover comes from these six cities."

Attributing the expected turnaround next year to a `radically new strategy', Mehta observes, "Our strategy in 2002 focused on one of our power brands, Kwality Wall's, supported by appropriate communication and activation, launch of differentiated innovations, focus on six citadels and aligning of our cost structure to the new strategy."

HLL managed to halve its losses in ice-creams last year, which the company attributes predominantly to the decision to shift its business from commodity to product model and working on supply chain efficiencies. HLL's ice-cream business losses were reduced to Rs 6 crore in the April-December 2002 period, from the Rs 20-crore figure the previous year.

Meanwhile, Kwality Wall's' Rs 80-crore Max sub-brand - which accounts for one-fifth of the company's ice-cream business turnover - was recently relaunched.

GCMMF - or Amul - has projected that it will end the April-March 2002-03 period with ice-cream sales of 24.5 million litres, valued at around Rs 150 crore, against 18 million litres (Rs 115 crore) the previous year. While GCMMF says it has become the country's leading ice-cream seller in both value and volume terms, HLL disputes this by quoting A.C. Nielsen data, according to which Kwality Wall's had an overall market share of 38.3 per cent by value in 2002, against Amul's 16.7 per cent. Says an HLL spokesperson, "In individual cities, our share was 36.9 per cent in Mumbai (against 35 per cent for Amul), 36.3 per cent in Delhi (9.7 per cent), 30.5 per cent in Bangalore (15.2 per cent) and 54.1 per cent in Hyderabad (13.2 per cent). Amul's claim is, therefore, absolutely incorrect."

GCMMF, however, contests A.C Nielsen's data on the grounds that it is limited to seven cities. Besides, ice-cream, unlike soaps or biscuits, is sold through exclusive deep freezer outlets (DFOs) and a retailer who sells one brand, say, Kwality Wall's, will not stock rival brands. As Prasanna Shah, head of GCMMF's ice-cream division, explains, "Market surveys are based on sales reported by the same sample of outlets year after year. A.C. Nielsen's panel has not been updated for the last four years and during this period we have been adding around 10,000 DFOs annually, the sales from which are not captured in the survey data. Further, during this period, HLL has withdrawn its ice-cream from virtually every market, barring six cities from where A.C. Nielsen's sample is drawn."

And while HLL's spokesperson points to Amul's turnover figure of Rs 150 crore being calculated on the basis of end consumer prices (ECP), GCMMF's Shah emphasises that the Rs 150-crore figure represents net turnover.

Market share apart, each of the Big Three are busy generating consumer pull necessary for both out-of-home and in-home consumption, by broadbasing their products across various price points.

GCMMF is now gearing to introduce super-premium ice-creams at `value-for-money' prices, some of which are already in the market. Analysts expect that Amul's move will give the HLL ice-cream management more sleepless nights.

Regional-level players, meanwhile, aren't giving way easily.

Market Research & Analysis

RESEACH METHODOLOGY:

RESEARCH PLAN:

OBJECTIVE

The objective is to find the preference by the consumer for buying ice-cream

of Amul other than its competitors.

There are three types of research:

Exploratory research

Casual research

Descriptive research

Our research falls in the casual category.

DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUE:

There are two types of methods prevalent in research methodology

are:

1) Secondary data.

2) Primary data.

For this survey primary method of data collection technique was adopted. For

the market research the questionnaire was being framed considering the

objective of the project and I personally interviewed consumers.

SAMPLE SIZE :

Thirty customers have been interviewed being conducted in the mumbai only.

Questionnaire

Name: .

Address:

. .

Q1) Do you consume Ice cream?

Yes. No.

Note: If yes than go to 3 otherwise ask 2.

Q2) Have you ever tasted ice-cream?

Yes No

Q3) What is the most important FACTOR, which influence you to buy an Ice cream?

Price. Taste. Easy Availability Climate.

Impulse Buying.

Q4) How often do you consume Ice-creams?

Weekly. Once in a Month. Once in 3 Months. Not Fixed.

Q5) Are you particular about consuming a particular Brand of Ice-cream?

Yes No

Q6) Which Brand of Ice-cream do you recall?

Top of Mind Spontaneous General Awareness

Q7) From the above Brands mentioned which brand do you prefer for your Consumption?

Q8) Which Flavour do you consume More?

Vanilla. Butterscotch. Strawberry. Chocolate.

Others .

Q9) Among the following which type of Ice cream do you have?

Cones. Cups. Candy. F.P.

Others.

Q10) What price point of ice-cream do you prefer?

Rs10 Rs20 Rs35 More than 50

Q11) How would you rate the following Parameters for both the Brands

(Amul & Kwality Walls)?

Excellent. Good. Fair. Not satisfied.

ParametersAmul Kwality Walls

Packing

TasteQuality

Price

Q12) If considered the all the above parameter which brand will be a better deal for you?

Amul. Kwality Walls.

CONCLUSION:

From the research done, it is clear that more than 65 % of people are very specific about consuming a particular brand.

Walls as well as Amul is doing very well as far as promotion is concerned. Walls are having a strategy of promoting its individual products separately, but Amul is always undertaking promotion to promote the brand amul. Amul very rarely promotes its individual products separately. Both the companies have different promotion strategy & both are successful as far as brand awareness is concerned.

Amul is more popular & is doing well. The reason being was that Amul provides quality at cheaper price so that any body can afford it & can enjoy to the fullest. Brand’s as well as companies position depends upon the consumer & their preference, stronger is the brand as consumer is the ring.

Consumer demands different sizes according to their convenience & if the company does not satisfy their required demands, it can create a negative in the mindset of consumers.

Still perception of people in our country is to get good quality at cheaper price & Amul is falling true on people’s beliefs.

Still perception of the people in our country, a large middle segment is to be tapped yet which can be done through proper pricing.

If distribution network is not sound, the company may loose its share. So ultimately the main aim of the company must be to make a proper with retailers to motivate the distributors and finally satisfy the customers wants and desire.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

1) Co-operative marketing in India and abroad -Sing L.P

2) Co operatives management -Ramkishen .Y

3) Amul Brochure and annual report

4) Business environment and development -N.G. Kale

5) Marketing management - V.S.Ramaswamy, S.Namakumari

6) Distortion in co operative -P.B.Kulkarni

Website:

1) www.google.com

2) www.hll.com

3) www.indiainfoline.com

4) www.amulindia.com

5) www.thehindubusinessline.com

Magazines:

1) Business world2) Business today3) Business India

Newspaper:

1) Economic times

2) Business times