Submitted By

Indu K
EPGP - 11 – 046
Section A
VORA AND COMPANY - SUMMARY
 The company had been a group business for several generations.
 The company entered the business of quick rolled oats after government stopped
the import of packaged cereal.
 Product is similar to Quaker brand of quick cooking rolled oats.
 Competitor Ganesh flour mills developed a similar product under trade mark
Champion oats and extended distribution all over India.
 Vora and company adopted packaging similar to Champion under the trademark
Blossom.
 Started in 1959 and entering national market in 1961 the company failed to
attain a profitable volume of sales by 1963.

2
SHOULD MR.VORA CONTINUE IN THIS BUSINESS?
 The company should continue as
The product quality and the taste of was found to be equal to or better than
competing products.
The product is one of the only two competitors that are serving the market.
3 years is an insufficient quantum of time for the business to evaluate the
viability of operations.
There are numerous drawbacks in the current operating and marketing model
to be rectified

3
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR PROBLEMS FACED BY VORA
AND COMPANY?
 The company is clueless about operating model of competitor.
 The revenue generated does not cover the total cost of the company.
 Lack of proper selling from the part of current distributors they do only order-taking
and collection.
 Short coming in logistics as the distributors did not stock and deliver the product.
 Agents have more prominence as the company was not connected directly to the
distributors.
 The packaging price of Blossom Oats is a large fraction of the direct costs which has to
be reduced.
 USP of the product, which is “Quick-cooking”, is not prominently highlighted in the
packets
 No proper advertising campaign; the name of the product needs to be reconsidered.

4
SHOULD VORA MAKE ANY CHANGES IN DECISIONS
CONCERNING: (A) PRODUCT AND PACKAGING
 The demand of various regions has to be researched and analyzed.
 The current packaging cost is high. This cost needs to be brought down by looking
into alternative packaging options.
 The packaging has to innovative and differentiable from its competitors like
‘Champion Oats’.
 Larger quantity per package should be offered to cater to larger families.
 Their USP is ‘Quick Cooking’ and it should be highlighted.
 The name does not reflect a food product it has to be reconsidered.

5
SHOULD VORA MAKE ANY CHANGES IN DECISIONS
CONCERNING: (B) ADVERTISEMENTS AND PROMOTIONS
 The name of the product can be changed to “True Oats”.
 The picture of ‘Smiling Girl’ should be changed to that of a chef to bring in
differentiation and to project authenticity.
 There should be a provision of incentives for retailers and distributors according
to the quantity of sales.
 The product needs an aggressive promotional strategy implemented to increase
the penetration of the product.

6
SHOULD VORA MAKE ANY CHANGES IN DECISIONS
CONCERNING: (C) PRICING
 Packaging of the product is to modified to reduce cost.
 The commission to agents should be increased such that it is marginally above
that of Champion Oats, so that they have an incentive to reach out to more
distributors.

7
SHOULD VORA MAKE ANY CHANGES IN DECISIONS
CONCERNING:(D) SALES AND DISTRIBUTION

 More able sales agents are to be deployed in South India to capture the market.
 The distributors & agents must keep inventory of the product for faster & efficient
delivery to customers as improvement of the sales & distribution channels is
immensely essential.
 Distributors should employ more sub-distributors to branch out the process and
reach a bigger market.
 Product orientation meetings and motivational sessions should be conducted for
distributors and sales agents.