Puneet Das is the president, Packaged Drinks, (India and South Asia), Tata Shopper Merchandise Restricted. He’s a advertising and marketing skilled with about 20 years of expertise within the FMCG phase throughout India, Africa and the worldwide markets. Aside from his Tata Shopper Merchandise expertise, he has held senior advertising and marketing roles throughout FMCG majors reminiscent of Marico, Pepsico, and GSK Shopper Healthcare, engaged on manufacturers reminiscent of 7Up, Increase, and Horlicks. An alumnus of St. Stephen’s Faculty, Delhi, Das holds a post-graduate diploma in administration (MBA) from XLRI, Jamshedpur. In a freewheeling chat with THE WEEK on the sidelines of a Tata Espresso occasion in Coorg, Karnataka, Das talks in regards to the advertising and marketing technique of Tata Espresso and the way it’s making an attempt to faucet into the Indian market with completely different product choices within the espresso phase.
India has predominantly been a tea drinkers’ market; however now espresso is turning into well-liked. What’s driving this market in India?
The tea class is ten instances greater than the espresso class. Espresso is round Rs 3,200 crore, out of which round 60 per cent is within the southern a part of the nation whereas tea is unfold all throughout. What is absolutely driving the espresso class in India is the moment espresso phase which is round 85 per cent of the espresso class whereas filter espresso stays huge with 40 per cent in terms of quantity. When it comes to worth, it’s the on the spot espresso which is driving the espresso phase in India.
In the remainder of India, metros are driving the expansion for espresso. Espresso exterior south India is usually in cafes, or when persons are touring or at their workplaces.
What steps are you taking to faucet into this market?
Our main focus is on rising the moment espresso class. We’re tapping the southern market with differentiated merchandise to go well with the tastes of various areas of the south. On the identical time, we’re additionally increasing in the remainder of India market as nicely with the Tata Espresso Premium model. For customers who’re in search of selection, we’re providing them comfort. As an example, now we have Tata Espresso fast filter for individuals who need the filter like espresso style however wouldn’t have the time to organize it. One simply wants to combine it with milk and one can take pleasure in a filter-like expertise.
Equally, now we have Tata Espresso cafe specials the place customers are having cappuccinos at cafes, however do probably not know find out how to make it at house. By utilizing our cafe specials, they’ll have the comfort of creating it at house and have a really cafe-like expertise by simply mixing it with milk. We’re tapping into these developments of selection in search of and comfort that are driving the core markets of the south in addition to the remainder of India. We’re seeing new customers coming in in the direction of the espresso class. Each the tea and occasional classes will continue to grow.
Which is the preferred selection consumed within the home market?
Within the home market, it’s the Robusta class which is broadly consumed, and a lot of the varieties within the home market has Robusta.
What sort of challenges do you face within the Indian market?
We’re a reasonably new entrant within the espresso market in India however within the final three years, now we have actually upped the trajectory. Within the final monetary 12 months, we grew at 31 per cent, and 21 per cent within the final quarter. We’re leveraging the would possibly of our distribution community with the intention to get into an increasing number of markets and an increasing number of retailers and households.
Are you able to elaborate on the type of improvements you’ve got embarked upon?
From a product perspective, now we have differentiated merchandise each within the on the spot espresso phase, each for traditional and premium. As an example, now we have leveraged developments reminiscent of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) which highlights the senses. It mainly heightens the senses and an individual’s mind responds to that. We leverage that pattern in telling the story of the espresso from the bean to the cup. All that is making us stand out from the same old espresso gamers. Our progress signifies that we’re on target. Tata Espresso’s branded enterprise has grown 31 per cent within the final monetary 12 months 2022-23.
Broadly talking, most of our innovation has occurred within the final two to 3 years. We now have a D2C model as nicely, ‘Sonnets’. We had launched it focusing on customers who’re type of connoisseurs of espresso—it’s a premium micro-lot roast and floor espresso. The standard is kind of excessive and the customers have the comfort of customising the roast sort of the espresso. D2C is an excellent area of interest phase for us however now we have seen that a whole lot of customers are going surfing and are searching for these sorts of choices.
Have you ever embarked upon any particular technique to develop your branded espresso enterprise?
Our technique is that the place espresso is a behavior, reminiscent of in south India, we’re tapping into the hyperlocal style pallets. We now have simply launched a liquid decoction espresso which has completely different variants focused on the completely different tastes of espresso customers within the south. We’re focusing on different customers in India with cafe experiences at house with the Tata Espresso fast filter, cafe particular and chilly espresso which will be immediately be blended with milk. It is extremely clear that whenever you enter the market, you’ve got robust entrenched gamers available in the market together with a whole lot of regional and native gamers. Nonetheless, whenever you include a differentiated product, then your probabilities of success go up. We now have been on a progress trajectory for the final three years and we’re getting good client acceptance.
The place do you see the recognition of espresso heading in the direction of in India sooner or later?
The long run Indian espresso market will probably be pushed by younger customers and other people residing in metros. Many have grown up with espresso however wouldn’t have the time to organize a decoction and need to do issues immediately. Therefore even within the core conventional markets, we’re seeing sooner adoption of on the spot espresso occurring. It’s the comfort with out compromising on the espresso style which is sought by customers throughout the normal market.