Those food companies which enter tradition bound countries like China, India, Vietnam and others have two routes to get into the heart of the consumers to make enough money for survival. The first approach as tried out by many MNCs during the last five decades involves converting the mindset of local people into accepting new foods through massive promotion bordering on "brain washing" and stay in the country for long time with sustained investments incurring losses for many years before getting to the break even point. The other route is based on the precepts that "when you are in Rome behave like Romans" by adapting their products to the native tastes and flavors. If Americans have been able to convert many populations in Asia into Wheat eating societies by switching over from Rice, it is entirely due their over whelming marketing muscles, deep pockets and unlimited patience to influence the minds of people to accept wheat as a staple. However modern American enterprises seem to be taking the second route through a process of reinventing their product mix to suit the palates of the consumers in countries and establish their presence. Here is an example of an American MNC going through this route to score significant success in India where there are more than 5000 traditional ethnic foods popular with some or the other segments of the population across the length and breadth of the country.
"When McDonald's first came to India 15 years ago, it ditched the Big Macs and Quarter Pounders to try to fit in in a country where cows are sacred and most people frown on eating beef. The chain tried re-creating its American classics with lamb, but it was a flop. Instead, McDonald's introduced homegrown alternatives like the vegetarian McAloo Tikki potato burger to go along with its non-beef standards like chicken nuggets and fish sandwiches. Now, following the success of its vegetarian meals, which make up half of its current menu, McDonald's is going one step further. This month, the chain announced a plan to open its first 100 percent vegetarian McDonald's in India. "India has been a huge experiment for McDonald's. The issue in India is, a vegetarian is a strict vegetarian. There have been instances that I've seen where a person who's vegetarian would not even sit with a person who's eating non-vegetarian food. It is that level of seriousness," says Rajesh Kumar Maini, head of communications for McDonald's in India".
Probably there may be a few examples of similar approach adopted by other MNCs. Though the popular potato chips market which is dominated by one or two players who were able to establish their foot prints by "killing" many local entrepreneurs, there are unmistakable signs that they are also bringing out products with traditional flavors to increase their business. Even local names are being used to promote their brands in a sustained manner. Frantic efforts in buying out some of the leading domestic brands engaged in manufacture of many savory/snack products as reported some time back, fits into their new strategy that "if you cannot beat them join them" philosophy. Of course one cannot find fault with such a strategy as the gainers would be the Indian consumers in this game of making more and more diversified products suiting Indian palate. More interestingly the concept of 100% vegetarian food products is bound to be an unqualified success as vegan population in India is sizable compared to situations obtaining in other countries. The practice of printing a green dot on the label of products, free from animal derived ingredients, is a pointer to the consumer behavior in this country.
V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com
"When McDonald's first came to India 15 years ago, it ditched the Big Macs and Quarter Pounders to try to fit in in a country where cows are sacred and most people frown on eating beef. The chain tried re-creating its American classics with lamb, but it was a flop. Instead, McDonald's introduced homegrown alternatives like the vegetarian McAloo Tikki potato burger to go along with its non-beef standards like chicken nuggets and fish sandwiches. Now, following the success of its vegetarian meals, which make up half of its current menu, McDonald's is going one step further. This month, the chain announced a plan to open its first 100 percent vegetarian McDonald's in India. "India has been a huge experiment for McDonald's. The issue in India is, a vegetarian is a strict vegetarian. There have been instances that I've seen where a person who's vegetarian would not even sit with a person who's eating non-vegetarian food. It is that level of seriousness," says Rajesh Kumar Maini, head of communications for McDonald's in India".
Probably there may be a few examples of similar approach adopted by other MNCs. Though the popular potato chips market which is dominated by one or two players who were able to establish their foot prints by "killing" many local entrepreneurs, there are unmistakable signs that they are also bringing out products with traditional flavors to increase their business. Even local names are being used to promote their brands in a sustained manner. Frantic efforts in buying out some of the leading domestic brands engaged in manufacture of many savory/snack products as reported some time back, fits into their new strategy that "if you cannot beat them join them" philosophy. Of course one cannot find fault with such a strategy as the gainers would be the Indian consumers in this game of making more and more diversified products suiting Indian palate. More interestingly the concept of 100% vegetarian food products is bound to be an unqualified success as vegan population in India is sizable compared to situations obtaining in other countries. The practice of printing a green dot on the label of products, free from animal derived ingredients, is a pointer to the consumer behavior in this country.
V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com
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