Assignment Taken

Formulate a product strategy for the chosen foreign market.

Case Understanding

 Case understanding • Ramalingam food is famous for its south Indian fresh cooked food and filter coffee since 1960. But his son Mr. Vijay Ramalingan started producing batter (Instant powder mixes) for various south Indian and North Indian dishes like Dosa-Idli batter, Gulab Jamun, Laddu and dhokla batter. But now Mr. Vijay want to do International expansion as he found out that their products were sold in foreign countries without their knowledge, thus the company appointed our firm Global consultancy services for expansion into any one foreign region with budget of Rs50 crores.

BCS Solution Summary

(Refer Global consultancy services image)  Solution Summary • Product invention • Product modification • Product adaption with STP( Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning)

Solution

• Solution to problems.                                  
• Global Business Consultancy (GBC) was asked for advice regarding international expansion by Indian Company Ramalingam Foods (Tagline: Making Homemade Chefs Since 1965) which has a ready to cook product portfolio, predominantly South Indian food mix including dosa-idli instant mix powder, dhokla, Gulab jamoon mix and filter coffee.
• GBC has decided the company to expand in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia of South-East Asia where there is huge south Indian population. The company would make Greenfield expansion in Malaysia followed by export to Singapore (by road) and Indonesia (by waterways) from there.
• GBC has advised Ramalingam Foods to launch with current products at these three countries in this year with planned product portfolio enhancement over next two years. Ramalingam Foods will focus on R&D for product innovation (both authentic Indian and Indian themed foreign dish), marketing for extending reach cum brand building, world-class IT infrastructure for coping up with digital disruption, employee friendly productive HR policy.

 

1. Product Invention- Ramalingam foods was famous for south Indian food and filter coffee since 1965. But due to some political interference they shifted themselves to making and providing instant food mixes known as batter or powder mixes food. They used to serve various north Indian and south Indian instant mixes and chutney powder, Desert mixes, they continued to serve this for many long years. But now they are thinking of expansion into foreign nations into Asian countries and have appointed our consultancy services know as Global consultancy services (GBC) for expansion. Thus the company wants to expand in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, but the category served by Ramalingan foods in India was limited to the country’s boundary, for expansion they need to extend their product line, the main agenda of Ramalingan food was to deliver Indian authentic taste in its product. Thus our consultancy services after a brief market research has extended the product line category with new inventions of categories which includes local food of the foreign countries with mix of Indian fusion in it. The new invented categories will serve the Indian mix with Malay, Thai and Indonesian food; also the company will also introduce its non-veg category, various combos and starters at different time intervals. But during first year the company will go with the same product categories they had in India as launching new categories at initial stage is risky

 

 

Categories

1.North Indian Mixes

2.South Indian Mixes

3.Starter mixes (Indian)

4.Indian Thai fusion mixes

5.Indian Malay fusion mixes

6.Chinese mixes

7.Desert mixes

8. Instant Tea and coffee mixes

9)Chutney powder mixes

10)Sauces mixes

11)Indian Indonesian Fusion mixes

12)Kids starter Packs mixes

13)Kids combo packs (Malay,Thai,Chinese,Indian)

14)Only veg combo mixes (Indian, Malay, Thai)

15)Only non veg combo mixes(Indian,Malay,Thai)

16)Small packet of instant mixes(Sachet) (Veg-Nonveg)

 

 

         2) Product Modification

• As the Ready to cook food segment is still in its nascent stage, there is a scope to penetrate into other potential countries with both its current product range and through customized products.
• The company is targeting its expansion to three Asian countries on a single go that is Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. With the budget of Rs50 crores, the company is aiming to construct a manufacturing unit in Malaysia. In the coming months, the company expects to start selling various other instant mixes in the market with extended product line category. Being the “first mover” in the market of Malaysia and Indonesia the company has already created an entry barrier by taking patents for its batter and packaging, and its manufacturing techniques. The company has also experimented with other products such as Malay dishes, Thai dishes and Indonesian dishes with giving them an Indian touch. The company has mixed Indian fusion in each category so the company can deliver the Indian taste in the foreign nations. The company has planned to introduce various instant mixes in coming years. Starting from the company’s regular menu it will start adding categories to its menu after expansion at time intervals. The company has also brought up various Veg and Non veg combos. The company has also introduced Non veg categories for future expansion by giving them an Indian touch, morever the company will also expand itself with Kids starter and combo packs, also introducing sauces and starters instant mix in coming future. Thus the company has aimed of growing big in near future. The products will be available in the market in short time after expansion. All the three countries will have a different timeline of product line expansion owing to consumer’s preference and acceptance of company in the country.  Presently, the brand has morphed into a multi-product brand with a range of products. The company continues and aims to deliver Authentic Indian touch to its categories.
• Continuing to maintain global standards of food safety would be a big challenge due to diversifying its product mix and entering new geographies. Besides, creating awareness in these new geographies, infrastructure. Owing to fast changing lifestyles in countries. The company will try to serve its product category range with sheer maintained quality and taste.
• Product line extension is the main goal of the company owing to that company has expanded its product line according to the selected foreign regions. The company has entered new products category after doing a market Resarch for the selected foreign nations.
• Morever the company is coming up with various different sachet (Small packets) for initial survey of the product and will run the small packets forever. The company will expand its categories into countries at different time intervals in coming five years.

 

 

Three Year Projection Plan(2019-22)

Pricing

 

 

Batter made Dishes

Categories	Dishes
1.Instant south Indian mixes	Medu vada, Masala Dosa, Idli, Appam, Paniyaram, Uttapam…..
2.Instant North Indian mixes	Chole bature, Tandoori roti, Paneer Masala, Biryani, Dahi Balla, Sarsoon da saag, Dal batti…
3.Indian Malay fusion mixes	Maggi poring, Banana leaf rice, Kurma, Rajma (kidney bean spices), Raita, and Biryani (Malay spices)….
4.Indian Thai fusion mixes	Crispy baby corn, Asian style pasta salad, Broccoli balls, Pineapple rice…..
5.Indian Indonesian fusion mixes	Nasi Biryani, Lawar (Indian vegetable dish), Indian curry, Appam (south spices)…
6.Starter Mixes(Indian)	Manchurian, Crispy veg, Shahi paneer, Wontons, Chicken soup…
7.Chinese Mixes	Fried rice, Manchurian, Chow mien, Spring rolls, Chicken chili…
8.Kids Starter Packs mixes(Indian)	Chicken soup, fried rice, Baby corn, deserts..
9.Kids Combo packs mixes (Indian,Thai,Malay)	Idli, Biryani, Maggi poring, pasta, Nasi Biryani, butter chicken, Deserts…
10) Combo Packs- Veg(Indian,Malay,Thai)	Sweet corn soup, Masala Dosa, Appam, Nasi Biryani, Manchurian, Thai curry……
11) Combo Packs- Non veg(Indian,Malay,Thai)	Chicken soup, Butter chicken, Chicken fried rice, Fish curry, Deserts…
12)Instant coffee, tea and other Beverages mixes	Coffee and Tea (Milk), Black coffee, Coconut water, Soya bean milk, Hot milk, Coconut milkshake, Caramel milkshakes, Thick shakes ….
13) Chutney Powder	-
14) Desert mixes	Mouse cake, Halwa, Jalebi, Shrikhand, Brownie fudge, Rabdi, Kheer, Waffles…..
15) Sauces mixes	Peanut sauce, sallot chili sauce, sweet soy sauce, sweet chili sauce

 

 

3) STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) and Product Adaption

• STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning)

1)Segmentation - Consumers behaviours are increasingly complex. A consumer segmentation model for the food industry must be multidimensional. The decisions consumers make about food are influenced by more factors than ever before, which means a consumer segmentation model that uses single variable such as age, need or gender is out of date

Therefore we will consider a modern approach towards segmentation:

• Mindset
• Location
• Consumption occasion

 

·Mindset – Consumer’s Mindset towards the food industry is changing rapidly as the trends are changing rapidly. So while expanding into given three countries (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand) our company did a research about the mindset of the consumer towards batter Food and company found out that these three Asian countries has highest number of Acceptance rate for varities of food. And these countries adapt the new varities fastly. Thus according to survey consumers in Malaysia are 80% early adaptors followed by 70% in Singapore and 65%in Indonesia.

 

 

Acceptance Rate in %

 

• Location – Our Company is delivering authentic Indian taste since 1965. Company believes to deliver the same taste and quality after expansion to (Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand), In the given Asian countries there is highest number of Indian population residing there , thus the main reason for expansion is serving those Indian with authentic Indian food taste. Morever the other main agenda for expansion is that many Indian dishes are famous over these Asian country thus the company will serve authentic Indian touch with Indian fusion mix taste in the products. During survey it was noted that the local people over there are foodies and they want something new to eat. Out of total population In Malaysia 45% of people crave for good and new food followed by 38% in Singapore and 32% in Indonesia.

 

 

• Consumption Occasion – According to our Survey we found that people in these three countries (Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) are primary drivers for food; they consume snacks and food throughout the day. Thus we extended our product line category according to their habits, morever we are a batter ready to make Food Company thus consumption of this powders are easy for consumer to eat and cook. Our survey shows the timeline of their eating habits.
• Here are the primary drivers of food decisions throughout the day:
  Morning: Mornings are typically driven by the need for more healthy, functional choices.
  Afternoon: As the day progresses, consumers need a tasty refuel to keep them going.
  Evening: Once evening arrives, consumers look for more pleasurable and relaxing solutions to unwind.

 

 

 

1. Targeting – Ramalingan foods is been serving authentic Indian taste since 1965 but after expansion into three foreign countries (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia) the company has extended its product line to target its customer. Authentic Indian taste is main agenda of the company, as there are many Indians residing in these three countries. Morever acceptance and adaption rate of new food category is also adapted easily by them. Thus the company has targeted various ranges of customer and extended the category of products.

Target Market

• Students
• Millennial
• Generation X and Y                                                         
• Local food advocates
• Tourists
• Working Professionals
• Early adaptors and food cravers.

 

1. Positioning – Ramalingan foods is making and offering instant powder mixes for various south and north Indian dishes in India. But after international expansion into three foreign Countries (Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) The Company has extended its product line category and are now providing various Malay, Thai and Indonesian dishes with Indian fuysn mix. The brand has positioned itself strongly in the Indian market and is now planning to grow bigger into foreign countries by strong positioning points and USP

• Strong Positioning Strategies
• Extended the product line category
• Local market extension
• Local dishes category
• Reaching more target customers
• 5  intervals for market entry with many new categories each year
• Providing a customized touch to each product to give the exact taste of the homemade items
• Product is naturally fermented.
• Introducing Sachet (Small instant mixes packet) for the first time in the market of batter food for testing  and will run throughout forever

 

• USP of our products.
• Preservative free without artificial Flavors and Chemicals
• Dishing out 4-5 recipes from the same batter
• RO water used
• Indian fusion mix in every category of products
• Organic, natural and home cooked food mix
• ISO and FSSAI certified
• Authentic Indian Taste
• Fusion of Indian taste with foreign cusine
• Less time consuming

 

3) Product Adaption

• The company is serving the instant mixes in India from many years. Now expansion into foreign countries (Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia) will be completely different atmosphere, because the food markets in each country differ, the adaption of the company and the products depends on the market entry of the product.
• Morever the company has extended its product line with various different categories for all the three countries. Company will extend its product line at time intervals in different country. But the main thing to keep in mind is the adaption of the products in each country. Thus the company has come up with a market entry and product line extension strategy for each country in a disciplined manner so that the preferences of consumers toward the product can be known.
• Product adaption in each of the three country (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia) will be different depending upon the Population, Geography, Preferences, Taste thus after conducting a brief market research the company has come up with as given below strategy for each of the three countries.

 

Product line Expansion and Market Entry strategy (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia)

Market Entry	Products	Time Period	Singapore	Malaysia	Indonesia
Initial Period	Small instant mix testing  packets (Sachet 50gms packet) (Veg-Non veg)	6 months	Yes	Yes	Yes
First Interval	Instant south Indian Mixes Instant North Indian Mixes Instant Coffee and Tea mixes and other Beverages mixes Chutney Powder Desert Mixes Small instant mixes packets	2019-20	Yes	Yes	Yes
Second Interval	Small instant mixes testing packets for ( Indian fusion with Malay, Thai and Indonesian dishes) (Veg-Non Veg)   Starter Mixes (Indian) (Veg-Non veg)   Chinese Mixes Kids starter Mixes(Indian) Kids combo pack Mixes (Both Veg-Nonveg)	2020-21	Yes	Yes	Yes
Third Interval	Indian Malay Fusion mixes Indian Thai fusion Mixes Indian Indonesian Fusion mixes (Both Veg- Non veg)   Sauces Mixes   Combo Packs Veg(Indian, Malay, Thai) Combo Packs Nonveg  (Indian, Malay, Thai)	2021-22	Yes	Yes	Yes

Conclusion

Conclusion and Management principles used  Expansion should not be seen as a profit but as a source of providing value and Authentic Indian taste to its customer with preserved quality. Owing to expansion our firm Global Consultancy Services would Suggest Ramalingam foods to expand in three Asian countries (Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) with extension in its product line. If the company looks well to all the solution given by our firm than there will be success and sales will also increase and the company will grow bigger. Now Ramalingam foods should look into better co-relation of the departments with high efficiency to achieve its goal successfully. Management Principles Used  Division of work -According to departments  Authority and responsibility- Assigned to top level and managers  The degree of centralization- To maintain hierarchy  Order- by providing the employees with the right guidance and proper information  Esprit de corps – To develop proper communication channel between the departments that helps in maintaining excellence relationship with the customers

Attached File Details