Britannia Industries Limited

A Report on Tiger Biscuits

MAYANK THUKRAL (08P089) SUDHANSHU GARG (08P108) SUPRABH SAMSUKH (08P110)

1. Executive Summary
The FMCG market is set to reach to US$ 33.4 billion in 2015. Penetration level as well as per capita consumption in most product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair wash etc in India is low indicating the untapped market potential. Burgeoning Indian population, particularly the middle class and the rural segments, presents an opportunity to makers of branded products to convert consumers to branded products. Growth is also likely to come from consumer 'upgrading' in the matured product categories. With 200 million people expected to shift to processed and packaged food by 2010, India needs around US$ 28 billion of investment in the food-processing industry. India is one of the largest emerging markets, with a population of over one billion. India is one of the largest economies in the world in terms of purchasing power and has a strong middle class base of 300 million. Around 70 per cent of the total households in India (188 million) reside in the rural areas. The total number of rural households is expected to rise to 153 million in 2009-10. This presents the largest potential market in the world. With growing incomes at both the rural and the urban level, the market potential is expected to expand further. An average Indian spends around 40 per cent of his income on grocery and 8 per cent on personal care products. The large share of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) in total individual spending along with the large population base is another factor that makes India one of the largest FMCG markets. In India per capita consumption of biscuits is estimated at a low 1.5 kg, reflecting the huge potential for growth of the industry. Over 900 million Indians buy and eat biscuits with varying frequency in any year. The penetration of branded product in this segment is quite significant, and is valued at Rs 2,500-3,000 crore. None of the other wheat-based segments is as developed as the biscuits industry. The biscuit
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segment has developed with large markets of mass consumption covering over 90% of the overall potential market. The Indian biscuits' market is estimated to be 1.1 million tonnes per annum and valued at over Rs 50 billion. The unorganized sector accounts for over 50% of the market. The market has been growing at a CAGR of 67% pa. The present biscuits-bakery sector in India looks like a battlefront. The battle being led by stalwarts like Britannia and Parle with close competition from other companies like ITC, Nutrine, HLL Kissan, Kwality and even international brands like Kellogg, Nestle and United Biscuits.

Contents

1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................ 2 2. Company Overview .. 5 3. Product Overview .. 6 4. SWOT Analysis .. 7 4.1 Strengths 8 4.2 Weakness .. 10 4.3 Opportunities 5. ... 11 4.4 Threats ... 12 Competitor Analysis ... 13 5.1 Analysing strategies and activities of direct competitors .... 15
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6. Analysis of Consumer Behaviour . ... 22 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 Survey Methodology Demographics of the Respondents Details about Family Consumption Behaviour Buying Behavior Brand Awareness Most Liked functionalities Outcomes

. 22 ... 22 . 24 .. 25 28 . 31 . .. 33 ... 35 7. Conclusion .. .. .. 37 8. References . .. 39 9. Questionnaire used for Survey... ... 40

2. Company Overview
Britannia Industries Ltd is the leading bakery products company in India with a predominant focus on sale of branded biscuits. The company's history goes back to 1892, when it was incorporated in Kolkata under the name of Britannia Biscuit Company. BIL got its current name in 1979. Four years later, in 1993, the Nusli Wadia group acquired a stake in BIL's parent, Associated Biscuits International Ltd, UK and became an equal partner in BIL with French Major, Groupe Danone.

The company is engaged in the business of biscuits, bread, cakes and rusks. In addition to the bakery business, Britannia runs its dairy operations through its joint venture Britannia New Zealand Foods Pvt Ltd. It caters to diverse needs and tastes of the Indian consumer across age groups through its optimum range of biscuit brands. Some of its popular brands are -- Tiger, Good Day, Marigold, Milk Bikis, Treat, 50:50, Little Heart, Bourbon, Pure Magic, Snax, Premium Bake and Nutrichoice. The company's strategy of consistently renovating its existing brands and launching new ones has helped it garner larger share of the Indian biscuits market every year. Its market share stands at about 35 per cent. It is essentially a biscuit company with 90.2 per cent revenues coming from sale of biscuits. The company has a biscuits manufacturing capacity of 1,63,500 tonnes per annum, spread over five units located at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Uttaranchal.

3. Tiger Biscuits

Launched in 1997 as a mass-market product, now Tiger constitutes 50% of Britannias market share in organized biscuit sector. Tiger became the largest brand in Britannia's portfolio in the very first year of its launch and continues to be so till today. Tiger has grown from strength to strength and the re-invigoration in June 2005 has further helped bolster its growth in the highly competitive glucose biscuit category.

Why Britannia Tiger?

Britannia Tiger is a mass-market product Tiger is in Glucose biscuit segment which caters to the need of low-price market

Tiger has distribution in metro, suburban and rural sectors Promotion mix of Tiger is very diverse, viz. celebrity promotion, competitions, emotional pitch etc

Tiger brand is in the market for last 11 years and it has evolved with changing customer needs

Tiger is the most successful brand in its category

4. SWOT Analysis

STRENGTH

WEAKNESS

Contract Manufacturing Model Strong brand positioning as a health force biscuit Quality Accreditations Various Tigers Alternative Distribution and Marketing strategies Excise duty holiday Value for Money OPPORTUNITY Cost-control Untapped Market Potential International Market Growth Potential

Brand name tussle Low profit margin Low penetration in sub-urban and rural sector

THREAT Increasing Inflation Bleak near-future industry outlook Competition Price sensitive market Customer behavior shift

4.1 Strengths

1. Contract Manufacturing Model What makes Britannia unique amongst its peers is its contract manufacturing model. The company outsources entire production of bread, cakes & rusk sold by it. Around 76 per cent of its biscuits are also produced by third party units. This strategy has helped Tiger brand in catering to growing market needs quickly and at lowest price possible. 2. Strong brand positioning as a healthforce biscuit Tiger as a brand has been a roaring success. Within a year of launch, Tiger Glucose and Tiger Cashew have, together, achieved a turnover of Rs 100 crore and a marketshare of 30 per cent in the glucose biscuits segment. At the low-end price-points targeting the mass market, Tiger Glucose (Rs 5 for a 100-gm pack) and Tiger Cashew Badam (Rs 6 for 75 gm) are positioned as healthforce biscuits. Consumer research showed that good health is the overwhelming objective when mothers choose snacking options for their children; it also revealed that mothers are aspirational for their children. So, the selling line for Britannia Tiger was Jam Ke Khao, Kuch Ban Ke Dikhao (Eat Lots, Become Something). The proposition repositioned Tiger brand, and brought a contemporary feel to the advertising. 3. Quality Accreditations

Other than 'Cremica', 'Priya Gold' and 'Britannia Tiger', none of the other brands carry the ISI mark. In a comparative test study done in 2003 by 'Voice', a voluntary organisation in interest of consumer education, it was revealed that only the claims of 'Britannia Tiger' as a health product matched the actual content of the biscuit. On the contrary, 'Parle G', which claimed to have eight per cent proteins, actually has just 6.8 per cent of it while Kellogg's had only 6.2 per cent against the claimed 7.4 per cent.

4. Various Tigers Britannia has gained market share for its Tiger brand by introducing different variants catering to all segments of society viz. glucose, cream(Orange, Elaichi, Chocolate, Rose Milk and Kesar), coconut, Chota-Tiger and recently-launched banana variant. Enhancing the portfolio of varieties under the Tiger brand is intended to give consumers more reasons to buy. 5. Alternative Distribution and Marketing strategies a) Along with normal distribution, Tiger is also focusing on bulk supplies at railway platforms, canteens and BPO offices, thereby increasing its reach across regions. b) Also launched "Chota-Tiger"(smaller packs) with two to three biscuits to facilitate quick eating at consumption avenues. Separate market structure and sales force is devoted to handle these alternative distribution. 6. Excise duty holiday The combined taxes, central-vat, excise & local taxes used to amount to 26% of total cost of Tiger biscuit. Recently government gave relief to biscuit industry by exempting the biscuit variants with cost below 100per kg from excise duty. This measure has come as a great relief to Tiger as it falls under the privileged segment. 7. Value for Money Tiger biscuit is positioned at low-end price-points (Rs 5/ Rs10) targeting the mass market. Tiger biscuit has maintained quality at low prices, maximizing value for the
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customer. Tiger had maintained the same price for its flagship glucose brand for several years to enhance customer satisfaction.

4.2 Weakness

1. Brand name tussle The relation between Britannia's major stake holders -- Wadias and Danone, has turned sour since 2005--06 over the alleged unauthorized use of the Tiger brand by Danone in five countries; viz. Singapore, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Egypt. Britannia has filed a case against Danone at Singapore court regarding the same. 2. Low profit margin After a drop in operating profit margins to 6% levels in 2006-07 from over 11% in the previous year. The current input prices are still significantly higher than previous year. Britannia will have to neutralize the adverse impact of the same through a combination of improved realization per pack, operating efficiencies and mix improvement. 3. Low penetration in sub-urban and rural sector a) Although Britannia has a large established distribution network, but still there is a huge unorganized sector(40% of total Indian biscuit market) operating in sub-urban and rural areas. These regional players mainly eat onto the potential market pie of Tiger biscuits, as it is the brand primarily into mass-market. b) Lions share (70%) of Britannias revenue comes from metros. Penetration in suburban and rural areas is very low.

4.3 Opportunities 1. Cost-control

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Cost-cutting measures, especially in the areas of manufacturing, logistics and distribution, will pave the road for increased profit margins. Rising inflation and increased input prices have been pushing profit margins for last couple of years. So, employing various strategies to control cost will help in meeting financial objectives. 2. Untapped Market Potential India's per capital biscuit consumption is still at about 1 kg, as against 2.5 to 3 kg in Sri Lanka, 5 kg of europe and 7.5 kg of USA. So, in future we can expect per capita consumption to grow to at least 2.5 kg. This entails to a huge untapped potential market. 3. International Market Although britannia exports its various products to countries including the US, Ghana, Seychelles, Singapore, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, but Tiger is exported to only Sri Lanka, US and AUS. So, the existing distribution network can be leveraged to export in these countries. 4. Growth Potential a) The company is investing Rs.130 crore from its internal cash reserves towards capacity addition. It is also believed to be adding capacities at its contract manufacturing units at West Bengal, Assam, Pondicherry, Kanpur and Nagpur. b) The company has also been following the inorganic route of expansion quite actively in the recent past. It made its first international acquisition in March 2007 by buying 70 per cent stake in Strategic Food International Co LLC, Dubai, a leading company in the biscuits and cookies segment in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) markets. c) Biscuit industry in India in the organized sector produces around 60% of the total production, the balance 40% being contributed by the unorganized bakeries. With increased production capacities Tiger will be able to capture part of unorganized sector.

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4.4 Threats

1. Increasing Inflation Food inflation is in excess of 10 per cent and input-cost inflation will be more severe in 2008-09. Inflation will remain the biggest challenge for the next year. Increasing prices of inputs - 20-25% increase in inputs in last 2 yrs. Prices of food grains are soaring wheat have increased from 650 to 980 per quintal 2. Bleak near-future industry outlook The growth in the biscuit market in India has reflected a decline in the last fiscal. This can be attributed to increasing input prices and rising inflation. Also, oil prices have reached $144/barrel. All these factors indicate that in near-future industry has a rough ride ahead. 3. Competition Strong competition from ITC, Parle, Sara Lee, United Biscuits, Kellogg, and Nestle India ensures that it does not take its leadership, in the domestic market, for granted. Specifically in Glucose biscuit segment, Tiger faces stiff competition from Parle Products' Parle-G biscuits. 4. Price sensitive market Tiger biscuit operates in the low-price segment, which is catering to a very price sensitive customer. This leads to very low margins and hence very less space for innovation. Any increase in price can lead to substantial market-shift. 5. Customer behavior-shift Biscuit industry in low-price segment faces stiff competition from other foods category viz. namkeen, chips etc. These are also in the low price segment(Rs 5-10 category) and have the advantage of lower taxes. VAT on this food segment is 4%
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while Biscuit segment is levied a VAT of 12.5%. Lower taxes provide for higher profit margins and stiffer competition in supply chain.

Competitor Analysis
Brand competitors are defined as competing brands of products which can satisfy the consumers wants almost equally as each other. For Britannias Tiger brand, the main competitors are Parle, ITC and Priya Gold. Other small brands in the biscuits industry are Cremica, Dukes, Bakemans, Anmol, and Sobisco. Apart from these products from biscuit segment, other snacks like Chips and Namkeens also serve as alternative products that satisfy the needs of the customers and eat into the potential market of Britannia Tiger. Analysing competitors presence in the current market on some parameters, viz. Market share, brand awareness, brand reach, marketing expenditure and growth; following observations are made. A glance at the Market share of different competitors, in the organized biscuit segment in Indian consumer market, will tell us that Britannia is the market leader with 38% market share closely followed by Parle.

Volumes in 2006
19% 5% 7% 31% 38% Britannia Parle ITC Priya Gold Others

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Parle G scores over Britannia Tiger and other products in Brand Awareness among consumers. This observation is based on the sample survey done by our team during the preparation of this report.

In brand reach Britannia scores much above other products in the biscuit market with a reach to 3.3 million stores, as against Parles reach to 1.8 million and ITCs reach to 1.5 million stores.

4 3 2 1 0

3.3

Reach (in millions)

1.8 1.5 Britannia Parle ITC

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ITC has the highest Marketing expenditure when compared to both Britannia and Parle. ITC spent Rs 117 crores in 2004-05 under marketing expenditure head, while Britannia and Parle spent Rs 100 crores and Rs 50 crores, respectively.

Apart from the above comparisons, on comparing growth of Biscuit sector, which grew at a CAGR of 7% in last 5 years, with that of other snack categories like Chips (15-20%) and Namkeens (35%); it can inferred that Namkeens and chips are eating into a huge potential market of Britannia Tiger.

5.1 Analysing strategies and activities of direct competitors:

Parle Products has been India's largest manufacturer of biscuits and confectionery, for almost 80 years. It is regarded as maker of the world's largest selling biscuit, Parle-G. It is also a host of other very popular brands like krackjack, Monaco, Hide &

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Seek, Parle Marie, Digestive Marie etc. in biscuit segment and Melody, Mango Bite, Poppins etc. in confectionery segment. The Parle name symbolizes quality, nutrition and great taste to Indian customers. With a reach spanning even the remotest villages of India, the company has seen a great growth since its inception. While to consumers it's a beacon of faith and trust, competitors look upon Parle as an example of marketing brilliance. Many of the Parle products - biscuits or confectioneries, are market leaders in their category and have won international acclaim such as the Monde Selection, since 1971. Parle products play the low price game at all varieties of biscuits from glucose to cream. Essentially, Parle plays a high volume, low margin game. 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. According to ORGMARG reports, Parle G commands a good 65 per cent market share in the domestic biscuit market. One of the most popular products of Parle Group is Parle-G. It has ruled the biscuits market for over 65 years. The glucose biscuits category in India is estimated at Rs 15 billion. The Parle G brand faces competition from Britannia's Tiger brand of biscuits. But being the largest selling glucose biscuit brand has not made Parle complacent. The Mumbai-based low-profile biscuits major have always tried to see some more scope in the category. It has wisely built more `social' equity for its largest selling brand, Parle G, by giving scholarships to poor children from West Bengal & Tamil Nadu. Its corporate equity was weak in these States compared to Britannia. With academics being a priority in these States, it has strengthened the equity of its corporate brand in these parts by using these tactics. There was a time when the biscuit maker was threatened, when Britannia's Tiger made an entry into the glucose segment a couple of years ago. Today, in spite of bigger FMCG majors such as ITC and HLL muscling their way into the category, Parle is not exactly on shaky ground. Besides, the category is fast expanding and its
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growth in the sluggish FMCG industry has helped the company hold on to its dominant position. While competing new and global players in this segment, Parle found that there are distribution gaps in the eastern and southern markets (compared to the North and the West), and it enhanced its distribution channel in these parts. Protecting the turf of its largest-selling glucose brand, Parle has also decided to restrict its line extensions to avoid diluting its equity. While it has extended Parle G to a more premium variant (Magix), it has deleted the Parle G tag for its Milk Shakti brand and brought it under the generic Parle name. Reacting to the competition in the biscuits segment, it took on Britannia's brand of Good Day cookies. Parle Products introduced two new cookie variants under its chocolate chip cookie brand Hide & Seek. Sporting flavours such as Butter and Cashew Badam. Hide & Seek till then existed as a single chocolate chip cookie brand at the premium end of the market. Good Day, for the first time, will have a challenger brand at the national level. In fact, cookies, which generally have high butter content, are manufactured by a host of regional players (mainly the local bakeries) and the big national players will have to fight for their share in this segment from the unorganised local players. Considering that the biscuits category has been growing rapidly at nearly 8 per cent, Parle has decided not to focus on its confectionery brands. In spite of having certain strong confectionery brands such as Poppins, Mango Bite, Melody and Kismi, Parle realises that it cannot get the margins in this category compared to its biscuits.

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In 2003, ITC forayed into the Biscuits market with the Sunfeast range of Glucose, Marie and Cream Biscuits. The mascot Sunny reinforces the emotional aspects of the brand. ITC is comparatively late entrant into the biscuits market. But the late entrant is already on the podium in the third place with as much as 7 per cent of the market in terms of value. There was a business synergy consideration in ITCs decision to enter into biscuits market. ITC was already value-adding to wheat with its branded atta presence. By entering the biscuits segment, it could also improve its bottom-line further. Before entering the segment, ITC dug into market research. Research revealed that the category had gaps which ITC could settle into. Findings revealed that consumers wished to taste new and innovative products. That was precisely what the competition had not done in a big way. The biscuits industry had witnessed little innovation; Glucose was Glucose and Marie was still Marie. In 2003, ITC launched Sunfeast with six ranges. But it was a calculated risk. ITC stuck to category favourites like Glucose, Marie and Bourbon cream. Along with that, it also launched
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innovations such as orange-flavoured Marie, Marie light and butterscotch-flavoured cream biscuits. In 2004, Sunfeast followed this up with the launch of Sunfeast Milky Magic. It has then launched the Sunfeast Snacky and Sunfeast Golden Bakes.

For biscuits, distribution and visibility are extremely important as it's partly an impulse purchase product. Sunfeast has been fortunate in this respect as ITC already had a good understanding of distribution channels due to its tobacco business. The company used its existing network of convenience stores -- the company's name for the hole-in-the-wall pan-beedi shops -- for Sunfeast. Not content with the existing resources, the company also looked at grocery stores and other retail formats. The brand is now available in nearly 1.8 million outlets while Britannia has a presence in nearly 3.3 million outlets and Parle is available in 1.5 million outlets.

In April 2005, Sunfeast launched its major campaign. It signed on Hindi film actor, Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. For promotions in southern states, Sunfeast has signed Tamil super star Surya as a brand ambassador. The company has been spending 35-40 per cent of its turnover from the biscuits segment on advertising and promotions. Going by that number, ITCs annual marketing spends are estimated to be in the region of about Rs 115-120 crore (Rs billion). Priya Gold spent close to Rs 45-50 crore (Rs billion), nearly 10 per cent of its turnover on marketing. Even market leader Britannia with spends of Rs 100 crore (Rs billion) (2004-05) spends about 10 per cent of sales on marketing.

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As far as pricing is concerned, Sunfeast look at a two-pronged strategy; high margins in cream variants and volumes from the Marie and Glucose segments. The biscuit consumer is willing to pay more only when he sees a clearly differentiated product. Hence companies have little choice in terms of pricing. Industry barometer AC Nielsen has indicated that both Parle and Britannia are losing market shares to ITC. According to the AC Nielsen retail sales audit, both Britannia and Parle have lost volumes while there is an increase in volume of Sunfeast. But, to catch the large market share of Britannia & Parle, Sunfeast may have to drop its prices and this will squeeze its margin even lower.

Priyagold is a biscuit brand of Surya Food & Agro Ltd., started in Oct. 1993. The company has an installed production capacity of 300 tonnes per day and the capacity utilisation stands at 60 per cent at present. The Priyagold biscuit range is being produced in the plants located in Noida, Lucknow, Surat, Nadiad and Faziabad. The company has very good presence in northern part of the country. After establishing itself in the northern part, the company has now started to spread its wings in southern part also and thus, making a direct competition with Britannia & Parle. The Priyagold brand has seen good growth in the non-glucose biscuit segment, which, according to industry estimates, accounts for 30 per cent of the overall biscuits market. Several multinationals have expressed interest in either buying out or forging strategic alliances with the company to tap the ever growing Indian Biscuits Market. Priyagold currently has 23 varieties of biscuits and it has plans to increase it by foraying into salty biscuits. It spends close to Rs 45-50 crore (Rs billion), nearly 10 per cent of its turnover on marketing. The company has also
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started tapping foreign market by exporting Priyagold biscuits to markets such as Dubai, Muscat and Oman. The main strength of Priyagold biscuits is that almost 70% of its sales come from rural India which is a booming market. This gives the company a fine opportunity to leverage its rural distribution network for exponential growth of the country.

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5.

Analysis of Consumer Behaviour

6.1 Survey Methodology We surveyed people on the internet using an on-line survey and direct surveys by going directly to the people. The on-line survey was sent to people across the country in different states in order to make sure that we get the best mix in our survey.

6.2 Demographics of the Respondents: Following are the details we gathered from the respondents, along with appropriate reasons for choosing these parameters:
1. Monthly family Income: On the basis of this we can find if different tastes

and preferences exist for consumers falling in different income levels.

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2. Type of family: Here we have given two options to the respondents: nuclear

and joint. This was again aimed to find the different tastes, preferences and usage for the biscuits across various types of families.

3. Lady of the house: Here two options were given to the consumers:

Housewife and Working. This was so because buying behaviour of a house wife contrasts with that of a working lady. Compared to a working lady, a housewife generally focuses more on the variety, buys from local shops and uses biscuits for various purposes.

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4. Family size: This was added to see the increase in the consumption of

biscuits with the increase in family size.

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5. No. of children: As biscuits are mainly consumed by children and it has been

seen that biscuits, especially glucose present in the lower range, are targeted towards the children. So, this was added to find out how biscuit consumption increases with the increase in no. of children.

6.3 Details about Family We further gathered details about the family, like who decides to buy the biscuit and the age of the person who decides about the brand to be purchased.
1. Decision about buying the biscuits: This was to know about the way

decision is made about the biscuits at any home. This way we can identify which family member needs to be targeted by the company. The results we obtained are as follows:

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From the data it is evident that most of the time the decision is taken by the lady of the house. This clearly gives the idea about potential buyer for our product.
2. Age of decision maker for buying biscuits: Depending upon the age of the

decision maker a company can further come to know about his/ her tastes, likes and preferences.

6.4 Consumption Behaviour We tried to learn more about the consumption behaviour of the respondents by asking them details like who consumes the biscuits mostly in your house,

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what kind of biscuits are most preferred, for what purpose are the biscuits consumed, etc.
1. Who likes biscuits the most: This was again asked to further learn about the

consumption behavior. The options given are: everyone, children, adults and others. Those who will consume the maximum will definitely have some say in the purchase, so that aspect can be provided. We obtained following results:

Here we can see that biscuits are liked and eaten by everyone in the house. The biscuits are generally bought by the lady of the family and liked by children more, but ultimately it is consumed by everyone.
2. Purpose of eating the biscuits: This will give us the details of the way

biscuits are consumed, about the purpose for which biscuits are mostly bought, etc. This can again provide an effective medium to position a brand by the company. We obtained following results:

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Here we can see that mostly biscuits are consumed during evenings and mornings. We can spot a trend. Generally this is the time when biscuits are taken with the tea.
3. Type of biscuits preferred: There are various types of biscuits available in

the market. A few of them are glucose, cream, marie, sugar-free, salted etc. So, the results obtained are:

As far as the preference of type of biscuits is concerned we can see that the preference is almost same for cream, Marie, namkeen (salted) and glucose biscuits. Although out of these we can see cream biscuits leading the way. On the other hand, sugar-free biscuits are not preferred by many.

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4.

Different ways in which biscuits are used: This can further provide company details about the way biscuits can be positioned. Here we can see that biscuits are used (in most of the households) in the form of snack, supplement with tea/ coffee, serving the guests etc. Very few times it was used as a food, hunger cruncher or general eating etc. So this can give us fair amount of idea how a company can position its brand.

5. Food items used instead of biscuits: The results gave us the details about

the substitutes of the biscuits prefer. In most of the cases these were some snacks like namkeen, samosas, rusk, chips, sweets etc. Although very few of the times people even said fruits, dry fruits etc.

6.5 Buying Behavior We analyzed buying behavior of the respondents. Here we generally asked about the place from where they buy the biscuits, frequency at which they buy biscuits etc.
1. Place where biscuits are bought: This can give us an idea about the

place where customer buys the biscuits. Here company can concentrate for the maximum promotion. The following results have been obtained:

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Here we can see that biscuits are mainly purchased from nearby provision store. So our main focus should be increse our brand reach to small retailers as it still people but 70 % of time from nearby stores.

2. Frequency of purchase: Here we decided to link the results obtained

here with the demographics of the respondents so that we can relate the consumption with the demographic attributes like monthly income of the family, type of family etc.

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Also with respect to various demographic parameters we obtained following results: Frequency of purchase increase with the 1. increase in family income 2. increase in family size 3. increase in no. of children 4. more for joint families 5. more if lady of the house is not working
3. Time of purchase: Here we decided to find the time of purchase. The

time of the day when maximum biscuits are bought.

On the basis of the results we can see that maximum purchase occurs during evening. This is the time when we can find maximum people purchasing the biscuits. 4. Attributes affecting Buying Behavior It is a comparative study of the consumer perception about the below listed attributes of a biscuit across various products while buying decision: Freshness
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Crispness Price Taste Availability (easy access, in required size) Advertisements Brand Name/Image Packaging (easy to carry/store, attractive) Other (looks, smell, consistency) Recommendation of shopkeeper Recommendation of family/friends/relatives

It has been seen that the Taste, Freshness and Crispness are the major draws to consumers when they purchase biscuits. Surprisingly Britannia Tiger falls behind in terms of advertisements and packaging as per the consumer data. However Tiger scores well in Freshness, Price, Availability and Brand Image vis-a-vis its competitor products, attributes which augur well for the product and is a pointer as to why it has been able to retain its customers and bag a large market share over the years.

6.6 Brand Awareness We decided to test the brand awareness of Tigers competitors. Tiger basically lies in the glucose segment of the market. The respondents were questioned about the awareness of various competing brands in the glucose market and the brand which they liked the most. Here we judhed the Tiger against Parle G, Priya Gold and ITC Sunfeast.
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1. Brand Awareness: Here respondents were questioned about the awareness

of the glucose brands. The following results were obttained:

Here we can see that Parle G has maximum brand awareness out of all.
2. Most liked brand: Here respondents were questioned about the brand they

liked the most.

Here we can see that Parle G is the most preferred brand out of all these. On further analysis we found out that Parle G, ITC sunfeast and priya gold are more preferred by people in lower income group while Tiger is preferred by people in upper income group.

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6.7 Most Liked functionalities We asked respondents about the factors liked by them: Easy/quick to eat Easy to carry in tiffin/picnics/journey Is liked by members of the family Is good for health Is trendy/ fashionable Is not for adults Is preferred over other foods that can be eaten instead of biscuits by members of the family Is too dry/not tasty to eat Does not become stale/spoilt quickly Is preferable in some season of the year Is easily digestible Good biscuits are easily available

We asked them to rate the factors as per their preference. We found that respondents have given high importnce to following factors: Is not for adults Is too dry/not tasty to eat Is preferable in some season of the year

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This implies that these are the factors that impact them the most while deciding to buy or not buy any biscuit brand.

6.8 Outcomes On the basis of our survey we have made the following conclusions: 1. The decision of the brand of the biscuits to be bought is mostly taken by the lady of the family 2. Biscuits are liked by people of all age groups (not only by children) and are mainly taken during evenings and mornings with tea/ coffee. 3. Glucose, Marie, cream and salted biscuits are the most preferred types of biscuits with sugar-free and others being the least. 4. Snacks like namkeen, samosas, rusk, chips, sweets etc. are the major substitutes of the biscuits and respondents prefer to have these food items in case biscuits are not available at home.

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5. In glucose segment of the biscuits Parle G has the maximum brand awareness and is liked by the most. So we can say that this is the major competitor of Tiger. 6. As far as the buying behaviour goes consumers prefer nearby provisional store more than bakery or hypermarket. Hence availability and sales promotions at small retailers will play major role. 7. When asked about the factors which influence the decision about biscuits, we found that people give importance to: a. Is not for adults b. Is too dry/not tasty to eat c. Is preferable in some season of the year This indicates that the biscuits are mostly liked by children, generally preferred in some season of the year and taste is a very important attribute before a consumer decides to buy or not to buy. 8. Out of all the attributes taste, freshness and crispness are the major draws to consumers when they purchase biscuits. 9. The major factors which form the perception about the brand are: a. Taste b. Brand Name/Image c. Packaging (easy to carry/store, attractive) 10. Out of these four attributes Britannia has been perceived well in taste and brand name, while perception about its packaging and ease with which it can be returned to consumer is not very good. 11. It has been found that the people in lower income groups prefer attributes like taste and packaging more important than others. While those in higher income group emphasize more on brand image

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7. Conclusion
Britannia Tiger is the largest player in the domestic glucose biscuit market. Britannia has been able to maintain this strong presence consistently because of the strong brand image of Britannia tiger and its strong distribution network. Even though this market segment is very price sensitive and has low profit margins, Britannia has leveraged its contract manufacturing model strategy to stay competitive. In fact, Britannia has been able to introduce different variants of Britannia tiger (cream variants) at similar competitive prices, to challenge the competitors. Also, Britannia Tiger is perceived as a value-for-money product by its consumers, which enhances the brand loyalty of the product. In India per capita consumption of biscuits is estimated at a low 1.5 kg, reflecting the huge potential for growth of the industry. The penetration of branded product in this segment is quite significant, and is valued at Rs 2,500-3,000 crore. The
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Indian biscuits' market is estimated to be 1.1 million tonnes per annum and valued at over Rs 50 billion. The market has been growing at a CAGR of 6-7% pa. The present biscuits-bakery sector in India looks like a battlefront. The battle being led by stalwarts like Britannia and Parle with close competition from other companies like ITC, Nutrine, HLL Kissan, Kwality and even international brands like Kellogg, Nestle and United Biscuits. Consumer behavior analysis of the customers, as studied in this report through market surveys, reveal some insights into the biscuit industry and Britannia Tiger brand in particular. Brand awareness This is an important factor when it comes to sales. Britannia Tiger brand is behind Parle on this parameter and needs to improve on it Substitute products Namkeens and other food snacks are fast emerging, growing at 35% pa, as product substitutes of Glucose biscuits

Consumers prefer nearby provisional stores to hypermarket and thus good distribution network is a prerequisite of good sales. Also, availability and sales promotions at small retailers will play a major role

Urban vs Rural Organised biscuit industry has a very low penetration in rural markets. ITC is the only player to have good sales in rural markets

Taste, freshness and crispness are the major draws to consumers when they purchase biscuits

Britannia has been perceived well in taste and brand name, while perception about its packaging and ease with which it can be returned to consumer is not very good

Bleak industry outlook - growing inflation and food prices will eat into the profit margins of the biscuit industry

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Industry needs to keep innovating the product and marketing strategies to keep up with the changing customer wants, viz. customer shift towards namkeens and other food snacks

8. References

1. http://www.india-today.com/btoday/22061999/markting.html

2. http://britannia.co.in/

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3. Prowess database

4. http://biscuitfederation.org

5. www.indiastat.com/

6. 13e edition, Kotler, Keller Koshi and Jha: Marketing Management, Pearson Publications

Britannia-Tiger Questionnaire
1. Are biscuits eaten in your house?

Yes

No

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2. Who generally eats biscuits in your house? (Please tick only one)

Everyone Adults only

Children only Any (specify)_________________ other

3. When/for what do you generally use biscuits? (You may tick more than one)

Morning (breakfast) Meals (lunch/dinner) When sick

Evening (snack) Tiffin Any (specify)_________________ other

4. Which of the following kinds of biscuits does your family use? (You may tick more than one)

Namkeen biscuits Marie Biscuits Glucose Biscuits

Cream biscuits Sugar Free Biscuits Any other (specify) ________________

5. What are the different ways in which biscuits are generally used in your house? 1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________

6. Which food items are generally used in your house instead of biscuits? 1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________

7. From where do you generally buy biscuits? (You may tick more than one)

Nearby provision store Bakery

Hypermarket Others

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8. How often do you buy biscuits? (Please tick only one)

Daily Regularly other than

2-3 times a week Weekends/Holidays Any (specify)_________________ other

weekends/holidays Occasionally, for special purposes

9. What time of the day do you generally buy biscuits? (You may tick more than one)

Morning

Evening

Other

10.What brands of biscuits are being/have been used in your house? 1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________

11. Are you aware of the following brands of biscuits?

Parle G Britannia Tiger

ITC Sunfeast

Priya Gold

12. Please rank the following brands of biscuits in order of preference.

Parle G Britannia Tiger

ITC Sunfeast

Priya Gold

13. Please rate the following for how likely each of the factors are to influence you (and your family) to use/not use biscuits? (-3: most likely reason not to use, 0: does not affect, +3: most likely reason to) -3 Easy/quick to eat Easy to carry in tiffin/picnics/journey Is liked by members of the family Is good for health Is trendy/ fashionable Is not for adults Is preferred over other foods that can be eaten instead of biscuits by members of the 43 -2 -1 0 + 1 + 2 +3

family Is too dry/not tasty to eat Does not become stale/spoilt quickly Is preferable in some season of the year Is easily digestible Good biscuits are easily available

14. Please rate the following on how important each of the factors are when you buy/use biscuits? (1: least important, 7: most important) 1 Freshness Crispness Price Taste Availability (easy access, in required size) Advertisements Brand Name/Image Packaging (easy to carry/store, attractive) Other (looks, smell, consistency) Recommendation of shopkeeper Recommendation of family/friends/relatives Can be returned to shopkeeper easily if not good 2 3 4 5 6 7

15. Please rate the performance of the given types of biscuits on each of the attributes on a scale of 1 to 7. (1: performs poorest, 7: performs best) Tiger Biscuits Freshness Crispness Price Parle G Sunfeast

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Taste Availability (easy access, in req size) Advertisements Brand Name/Image Packaging (easy to carry/store, attractive) Other (looks, smell, consistency) Recommendation of shopkeeper Recommendation of family/friends/relatives Can be returned to shopkeeper easily if not good

16. How do you buy biscuits? (Please tick only one)

I collect information, develop perceptions about the brand, then buy the brand. I buy the brand, learn about the brand, then form perceptions about the brand. I buy the brand, experience the brand and then gain information about the brand.

17. Which of the following is true for you in biscuit buying? (You can tick more than one)

I am price conscious. I look at a lot of information before buying biscuits. I associate biscuits buying with esteem/ego. I am emotionally involved in biscuit buying. Biscuit buying is a habit for me. Biscuits give me quick satisfaction. I am more likely to buy brands of biscuits that offer gifts.

Please tell us about your family?

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1. In your house who decides whether to buy biscuits or not?

Mother/ wife Children

Earning member

male

Other (specify)

2. In your house who decides which brand of biscuits to buy?

Mother/ wife Children

Earning member

male

Other (specify)

3. Age of decision maker for buying biscuits

Less than 20 years 30-40 years

20-30 years Greater years than 40

4. Monthly family income

Less 10000

than

Rs.

Rs. 10000-15000 More 25000 Joint than Rs.

5. Type of family

Rs. 15000-25000 Nuclear

6. Lady of the house

Housewife

Working lady

7. Family size____________

8. No. of children___________

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