Study of Consumer Behavior in Noodles & How to Improve Market Share of Yippee Noodles in Jaipur

Summer Internship Project ReportUndertaken AtITC Limited, Jaipur

Submitted to Partial Fulfillment of the RequirementFor the Award ofPost Graduate Diploma in Rural Management

Submitted By:Akansha TakPGDBMRM/JULY/14/27/2996

Faculty Guide:Prof. Shiv JoshiFMS-IRM, Jaipur

Faculty of Management StudiesInstitute of Rural Management, Jaipur

1.1 Introduction of the Study:http://www.slideshare.net/VinniKaur/strategic-analysis-of-itcITC food division brand Sun feast launched its new product YIPPEE noodles to get a competitive advantage over Maggi and other noodles in the market such as Top Ramen, Foodies etc. but still the leading company may find difficulties to get over the highest market share of Maggi i.e. 80% approx. The research firm is destined to find out the reasons behind the low market share and the influence of customer satisfaction level behind the same and other such factors that actually contributes to the success of the new product.

This research would enable you to know how the market share can be increased that includes various factors such as the consumer behavior towards noodles and Yippee noodles as well including the reasons behind the low market share and the competitors scenario in the prevailing market situations that will include descriptive research in the process. Data collection would be preferred as primary as well as secondary for supporting the research done by us and in some other relevant areas. The location preferred is Greater Noida for the convenience and time constraint.

A Sunfeast Yippee Noodles outlet which is basically my concern outlets around which my project has to be revolved is really a very complex outlet. The project titled Study of Consumer Behavior in Noodles & How to Improve Market Share of Yippee Noodles in Jaipur was basically a research based project. The main Objective behind doing this project is to Know the outlets Yippee preference, have an overview of how ITC Sunfeast Yippee could penetrate the various Outlets, Know the working of distributors and TSIs (Territory Sales In charge) in ITC Sunfeast Yippee. Study the consumer behaviour in Noodles. Find out the importance of Hanging Display in noodles industry. How to increase the market share of Yippee Noodles in Jaipur.

The Challenges:While the old reputed and well established brand Maggi is present in the market which captures 80% market shares of noodles, it is tuff competition for Yippee Noodles to take over Maggi. A person prefers and consumes Maggi and now they became the habitual of Maggi so to increase the sale of Yippee Noodles is challenge for ITC Limited.

1.2 Introduction of the company:ITC Limited or ITC is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. Its diversified business includes five segments: Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Hotels, Paperboards & Packaging, Agri Business & Information Technology. ITC was formed on 24 August 1910 under the name of Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited. The company was rechristened as the Indian Tobacco Company Limited in 1970 and further to I.T.C. Limited in 1974. Finally, the periods in the name were removed in September 2001 for the company to be renamed as ITC LtdIts Chairman Yogesh Chander Deveshwar has won renowned awards and recognitions including Padma Bhushan from Govt. of India and 7th best performing CEO in the world by Harvard Business Review.Meera Shankar, Indian ambassador to USA between 2009 and 2011, joined the board of ITC Limited as the first woman director in its history. She is an additional non-executive director of the company.As per the Annual report of the company, it had 25,960 employees as on 31 March 2013, out of which 3,043 were women. It spent Rs. 2,145 crores on Employee benefits during the FY 2012-13. During the same year, its attrition rate was 12%.ITC has a diversified presence in Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards & Packaging, Agri Business & Information Technology, Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Branded Apparel, Personal Care, Stationary, Safety Matches and other FMCG products. While ITC is an outstanding market leader in its traditional businesses of Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards, Packaging and Agri-Exports, it is also rapidly gaining market share in Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Branded Apparel, Personal Care and Stationary.

1.3 Introduction of Sunfeast Yippee Noodles:

For at least 2000 years the noodles have been a staple food in many parts of the world. The knowledge of early noodles came into being from the records which appeared in book written between A.D. 25 and 220 during Chinas East Han dynasty. However, there are other theories which suggest that Arabs were the first to introduce noodles in Italy henceforth it has its origin in the Middle East. After the modern day appearance of noodles which is being dominated by the brands, the spread and consumption of noodles is growing day in and day out. The noodles market is growing at 20% annually in India. The instant noodle was invented by Taiwanese-Japanese inventor Momofuku Ando in Japan. It was first marketed on August 25, 1958, by Ando's company, Nissin, under the brand name Chikin Ramen. Ando developed the production method of flash frying noodles after they had been made, creating the "instant" noodle. This dried the noodles and gave them a longer shelf life, even exceeding that of frozen noodles. Each noodle block was pre-seasoned and sold for 35 yen. Initially, due to its price and novelty, Chikin Ramen was considered a luxury item, as Japanese grocery stores typically sold fresh noodles for one-sixth their price. Despite this, instant noodles eventually gained immense popularity, especially after being promoted by Mitsubishi CorporationIn September 2010, the brand launched its noodles brand extension- Sunfeast Yippee. Indian noodles segment has now become a huge market worth Rs 1200 crore. Maggi is the market leader with a whopping 70% market share (Business Standard). A huge market with one major market leader is definitely an attractive one. That is one of the reason why so many players have recently launched their brand in this segment.

Looking at the strategy behind extending the biscuit brand into noodles, there are pros and cons that has to be noted. The major advantage for ITC in extending the Sunfeast brand is that it may have saved lot of money through this extension. Building a brand in a sensitive category like food will take lot of investment and time. Since Sunfeast is already in food business, it makes economic sense to launch noodles under this brand.

In September 2010, ITC launched its noodles brand extension Sunfeast Yipee. Indian noodles segment has now become a huge market worth Rs 1200 crore. A huge market with one major leader is definitely an attractive one. Sunfeast (ITC) is a worthy to take on the might of Maggi. ITC is a company that is not adverse to taking risk and have a huge cash reserve to fight a marketing war with Nestle. At present, Sunfeast Yipee is available in three lip smacking variants : Classic Masala, Magic Masala, Chinese Masala

1.4 Objective of the Study:

To study consumer behaviour towards noodles in Jaipur. To study the existing retailers outlets and wholesaler for Yippee Noodles. To study the market of Yippee Noodles in Jaipur. To study the competitors of Yippee Noodles in Jaipur. To study the consumer perception about Sunfeast Yippee Noodles in Jaipur. Find out the importance of Hanging Noodles Display at purchase point. Find out how market share of Yippee noodles can be increase in Jaipur. 1.5 Justification For The Proposed Study Know the outlets Yippee preference, have an overview of how ITC Sunfeast Yippee could penetrate the various Outlets, Know the working of distributors and TSIs (Territory Sales In charge) in ITC Sunfeast Yippee. Study the consumer behaviour in Noodles. Find out the importance of Hanging Display in noodles industry. How to increase the market share of Yippee Noodles in Jaipur.

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