7/28/2019 By Business Standard July 13

1/1

By business standard july 13,2013

TheDharampal Satyapal group, which owns brands likeRajnigandha(pan masala),Baba(chewing tobacco), Catch

(spices and beverages) and Pass Pass (mouth freshener), wants to get a bigger share of the food and beverages

market. And the brand it has chosen from its portfolio for this purpose is Catch. Catch salt, pepper and spices sold a

little over Rs 100 crore in 2009-10, while Catch beverages (natural spring water, soda and tonic water) sold a little

under Rs 28 crore.

According toRajiv Kumar, group vice-chairman & managing director, the expansion in foods will happen in product

categories that are kept on the dining table and not in the kitchen. This could mean categories like sauce, jam and

pickles. Our teams are studying the possibilities in each of these categories, says Kumar. But this is a category not

easy to crack. In sauce, there are strong national players like NestlsMaggiandHindustan UnileversKissan. Bharti

FieldFresh Foods has recently joined the bandwagon with its Del Monte range. In pickles, the competition from local

producers is intense. Even Nestl had to withdraw from the market its Maggi range of pickles.

The focus on the dining table also means that large categories like flour and rice are not on Kumars radar screen. He

puts it down on the challenge of creating differentiation in these highly commoditised categories. Kumar says all new

products will have sufficient differentiation that is the brief to the development teams. This, he claims, is thereason for the success of Catch spices (basics, wholes and blends): Since the spices are purer than rivals, less is

required in cooking. However, Catch is a small player in the business. The market for branded spices is worth Rs

3,000 crore and the DS groups share is 3 per cent. Kumar plans to mount the new p roducts on the existing

distribution network for spices.

Meanwhile, the group has started to tinker with its packaging. Of late, the group has introduced in the South

dispensers which can grind fresh, either manually or with a battery, five products: Crystal salt, pepper, garlic salt,

fruit dressing and Italian seasoning. The foods category is growing fast. And only those with superior financial muscle

power can stay there for long. The DS group is Rs 1,600 crore in size. Will that be good enough to take on

entrenched players like Hindustan Unilever, Nestl and ITC?

To be sure, Kumar has another business under Catch spring water which has brought him a fresh set of rivalslike the Tata group, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Bisleri. Kumar says Catch is a premium brand and competes only with

imported products like Evian. Though the brand has been extended to flavoured water, soda and tonic water, there

are supply constraints as the water is drawn from a spring between Kullu and Manali in Himachal Pradesh. There are

large parts of the country where Catch beverages do not reach. Kumar surely wants to extend the business to newer

categories. Fruit juice is a good market, says he.

Before that, he has come out with juice mixes in three Indian flavours Mango Panna, Jaljeera and Nimbu Pani.

There are small packs too, which retail for as little as Re 1 and Rs 2. These packs are aimed at the bottom of the

market, and Kumar plans to retail these through the panwala network which the group anyway services with its pan

masala, tobacco and mouth freshners.

http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Dharampal+Satyapal+grouphttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Dharampal+Satyapal+grouphttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Dharampal+Satyapal+grouphttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Rajnigandhahttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Rajnigandhahttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Rajnigandhahttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Babahttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Babahttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Babahttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Rajiv+Kumarhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Rajiv+Kumarhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Rajiv+Kumarhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Maggihttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Maggihttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Maggihttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Hindustan+Unileverhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Hindustan+Unileverhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Hindustan+Unileverhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Kissanhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Kissanhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Kissanhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Kissanhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Hindustan+Unileverhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Maggihttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Rajiv+Kumarhttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Babahttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Rajnigandhahttp://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Dharampal+Satyapal+group