Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Feb 19, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Feb 19, 2003 |
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Marketing
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New Products & Services HLL ventures into chutneys Purvita Chatterjee
MUMBAI, Feb. 18 IN a bid to pad up operating margins for its food business, HLL is foraying into `snack sauces' with its Knorr Annapurna brand. Two variants are presently being sported under the sub-brand of `Stormy Sauce' — in minty coriander and chilli-tomato flavours. Pegged at Rs 25 for a 200 gm bottle, the sauces (serving as substitutes for home-made chutneys) are supposed to be served with ethnic Indian cuisine, with the packs themselves displaying idlis meant to taken with the snack sauce. Knorr Annapurna's Stormy Sauce is being promoted as a taste accompaniment that adds excitement to any snacking moment. It is supposed to serve as a versatile sauce that goes well with all Indian and Western snacks. A largely untapped market, with no national player catering specifically to the chutney segment, Knorr Annapurna's snack sauce will be pitted against the existing sauces in the market, including that of Kissan (HLL's own brand) and Maggi. Manufactured by Universal Healthcare Products Ltd, a company based in Kolar, this marks HLL's foray into yet another new category through Knorr Annapurna. In the recent past, Knorr Annapurna was extended into Platinum Salt. Prior to this launch, it forayed into rice-based snacks with its 4 O'Clock Tiffin brand. According to Mr Gurunath Mudwala, Head of Research at Khandwala Securities, "Chutneys is not a tested market and HLL has to get its pricing and taste right for the product." The sauces, which come with a shelf life, are made of preservatives that are likely to affect its natural taste (compared with the fresh chutneys made at home), and this can become an impediment to its acceptance, say analysts. Carrying the same baseline, `Wholesome Taste, Colours of Life', the Stormy Sauce under Knorr Annapurna is expected to differentiate itself on the basis of taste, nutrition, convenience and affordability, and is a proprietary food, according to HLL officials.
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