Spreading awareness and holding more trials is Godrej Yummiez's plan for H2 FY23: Mohit Marwaha

Godrej Yummiez, a player in the ready-to-cook products segment, has recently expanded its vegetarian portfolio with the launch of Godrej Yummiez Crispy Potato Starz. This is the third product launch of the brand this year, after ‘Paneer Pops’ and ‘Mix Veggies’.

According to Mohit Marwaha, AVP-Yummiez, Godrej Tyson Foods, approximately 50% of the respective ad-spends for media campaigns of Godrej Yummiez is set aside for Digital mediums, followed by nearly 25% on TV, about 20% on Outdoors, and the remaining on in-store sampling.

Upon being asked as to what led to the inception of Godrej Yummiez Crispy Potato Starz, Marwaha highlighted that the brand’s portfolio currently doesn’t have a very strong presence in the potato category and through this the brand aims to strengthen its presence in the same.

“Today more than two-thirds of the people prefer potato-based snacks and it is consumed by the whole family and is not limited to kids or adults. The brand also felt that there was a need to launch a product which could deliver a tasty potato-based snacking experience to the consumers,” he said.

Commenting as to how important of a role does sampling play in Godrej Yummiez’s media mix, Marwaha stated that the brand carries product sampling on a regular basis, usually in over 5000 stores in the key cities across India, because it helps the brand in generating good trials and repeat-sales for the product.

He also went on to add that sampling would also help the brand in developing a taste within the public and thus attaining a certain preference in the minds of the consumer owing to the crispiness and crunchiness of the new product offering.

“For the latest launch of Godrej Yummiez Crispy Potato Starz, we are increasing the scale of in-store sampling and are also looking at in-society and a branded van-based sampling in high footfall shopping areas. We are also planning on giving free small-sized samples on e-commerce websites as well,” he added.

Upon being asked as to which category of consumers constitute the main target audience of Godrej Yummiez, Marwaha replied, “Our core target audience remains to be the mothers and females in the age group of 25-45 years. However, we have recently seen that a lot of fathers and men in the house are also cooking and opting for frozen products, thus they also form a part of our secondary target audience.”

“Today, we are largely present in metros, Tier-I and Tier-II cities and towns. Tier-III is still some time away but as the category grows and consumers start opting for frozen foods, then definitely Tier-III will also come under the scope,” he added.

Throwing light on the objective behind the campaigns of Godrej Yummiez, especially for the new product launch, Marwaha said that the initial part of the brand campaign is focussed on spreading awareness through a quirky advertisement that the consumers like to see, followed by the digital centric 360-degree campaign videos which talk about technology and how it helps the brand to provide preservatives-free products.

“It’s a quirky and humour-based advertisement which will be available soon on the website as the campaign goes live. The digital ad videos will be more informative advertisements and will talk a lot more in detail about how the technology works,” he added.

Furthermore, Marwaha also went on to add that in terms of the media mix for the new product launch, the plan is to first cover the five metros in the Stage-1, followed by a pan-India campaign.

Commenting as to how the brand plans to compete against the likes of Swiggy and Zomato in terms of the secondary competitors, Marwaha added that people have started snacking a lot more and the snacking occasions are on the rise.

“People are now moving ahead of the earlier concept of having three meals and one snack meal a day. With more snacking occasions, the snacking category is also going up,” Marwaha said.

Moreover, he also went on to add that Godrej Yummiez as a brand is positioned very well to leverage growth in the snacking pattern of people. “Of course people many-a-times order from the food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato, but according to what we have seen they still have a concern regarding the hygiene and the amount of oil in the products. Thus, there is a preference for cook-at-home products which is on the rise,” he stated.

Furthermore, Marwaha also asserted that the price and the value of ordering food from the delivery apps can be a bit expensive for the masses, but with the ready-to-cook offerings of Godrej Yummiez, people can cook at home and thereby get a greater value coupled with using healthier methods.

When asked as to what are some of the challenges that come into play in the ready-to-cook segment, Marwaha replied that the first and foremost challenge is to spread awareness among the consumers and combating the prevalent fear and myth of frozen snacks containing preservatives.

Additionally, the other challenge pertains to the cold-chain infrastructure which ensures that the temperature for the frozen products is not being abused.

When questioned as to what the brand’s objectives for the remaining part of the current fiscal year look like, Marwaha replied that the aim is to let the business and the brand grow strong.

“We believe that there is a huge headroom for growth as the penetration of the category is still in single digits. With people becoming more aware and as the food chain evolves in the country, the category will grow in the right direction,” he added.

For the remaining half of FY23, Marwaha stated that the brand is currently looking at a growth of over 30%.

Moreover, while commenting on how Godrej Yummiez’s association with the DTC offerings on e-commerce channels like Swiggy Instamart, BlinkIt, Dunzo, Zepto, etc. fared out so far, Marwaha said that it has seen doubled growth in less than two years and contributes to about 30% of the overall sales.

“In the frozen snacks category where a lot of people order food impulsively, these e-commerce players offer good opportunities to get the ready-to-cook food delivered at the doorstep which actually works well for the brand,” he added.

Furthermore, Marwaha also ascertained that the brand is currently witnessing that online channels are getting better traction and are growing much faster since the shopping behaviour is changing and consumers are ordering food online.

On a concluding note, Marwaha also emphasised that the USP of Godrej Yummiez's various product offering is that the Masterbrand talks for itself as the consumers trust the brand more owing to its rich and varied legacy. Additionally, the variety of product offerings be it in the vegetarian segment or in the non-vegetarian segment helps the brand to leverage and set itself apart from the competitors.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com