Exclusive | We're the leaders in Ready to eat category,says MTR's Sabherwal

Indian sweets have always been somtheing that we all love to cherish. Be it post lunch, or whenever you want to eat it or during celebrations like birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. But have we ever thought that we could get these Indian sweets at a general store as well. There is one such company which thought that they could Indian Sweets at a general store. This company is MTR. Recently they have launched its new range of packaged Indian sweets.

To start with the market that they have a strong presence in that is the south of India, this brand is all set to give an enduring experience to the Indian market with their first two Packaged Indian sweets that is Gulab Jamuns and Rasgullas.

Adgully caught with Vikran Sabherwal, Vice President, Marketing, MTR Foods to know a little more on what tickled them to get this fabulous innovation.

While the brand is already a leader in the space of ready to eat food, this brand is constantly looking at innovating new products to help their consumers. Speaking about the same Sabherwal says that, “We were already making Gulab Jamuns, but there was no innovation in that. We were also looking at other dessert options like chocolates, ice creams, puddings and nobody had tried Indian sweets and that where the idea came from. We came across an interesting packaging technology and that’s when we really got into this category.”

With a lot of insights that came before coming up with this campaign, the brand wants to establish itself as the best in the industry. Understanding the need gap analysis of the consumer, they launched packaged Indian sweets with a very innovative packaging technology. “The moment you have some unplanned moments to celebrate, that’s where MTRs packaged Rasgullas and Gulab Jamuns will come handy,” adds Sabherwal.

While they are leaders in the desserts mix and ready to eat category, Sabherwal adds that, “It makes sense for us to expand in the Indian sweet category. It is also a part of our bigger business strategy so that’s really where it started. So we do think that they will accept our ready to eat Indian sweets also.” He also said that Indian sweets are not much thought about based on which religion you worship, so it’s easy to consume any Indian sweet during your celebration.

Since this is a ready to eat product every age group fits in this category. Sabherwal is of the view that there is not much cooking required; hence it caters to all men, women and young adults. He added, “There is no particular target audience as Indian sweets are cherished by all age groups. So there is no such age group. We intend in creating special moments in someone’s life, like the one in the TVC that will go live next year.”

Currently catering to about 10-12 cities across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, MTR will slowly make this product available to 25 cities in the South, followed by their national launch.

While this category of food is still naïve, the company has decided to use only television and print as a medium of communication. Although later they will use the digital and social space.

The brand intends to follow a distribution format where they can cater to open markets and bigger stores in specific cities. Currently they are looking at expanding to 25 towns in South India.

While the pricing is competitive yet low, Sabherwal says that, “We have not really looked at it from that point of view. We have looked at this product in terms of convenience, sumptuousness, good packaging and the quantity that one would get out of the whole box of Indian sweets.”

The new TVC will definitely excite one to try the packed sweets. The creative was made by Ogilvy in Bangalore. The brief given was very simple. They were told that we have created a new product which no one has created. It’s a self contained ready to eat Rasgulla and the consumers can enjoy it whenever and wherever they want to for their celebrations. Indeed it was easy for Ogilvy to crack the brief as they were very excited to work with this product and that’s how they came up with a wonderful TVC.

When asked about the two best campaigns for MTR, Sabherwal said that, “The first best campaign is for breakfast mixes, where a housewife fulfils each of the family member’s wishes by making upma, dosa, idli etc. and the second one is for our Masalas in Tamil Nadu, when Tamil Nadu was a new market for masalas. When we initially launched masalas in Tamil Nadu, the campaign that we did went very successful for us and that why these have been the best TVCs for us till date.”

While there have been a lot of challenges, there has also been a fairly good market share for this brand. The industry being at its nascent stage, the consumers today are being more empowered. With traditional families breaking down to more and more nuclear families, housewives are more dependant of packaged food and it is the duty of brands like MTR to create that experience for the family.

On an ending note, Sabherwal said that, “It has been a great year. A year of challenges, innovation and newer markets. We are hoping that we always cater to the best the consumer can get and be the leaders in our industry.” By: Archit Ambekar | Twitter: @aambarchit