INTRODUCTION

A long time ago, when the British ruled India, a small factory was set up by Mohanlal Dayal
Chauhan in the suburbs of Mumbai city, to manufacture sweets and toffees. The year was 1929
and the market was dominated by famous international brands that were imported freely. Despite
the odds and unequal competition, this company called Parle Products, survived and succeeded,
by adhering to high quality and improvising from time to time.
A decade later, in 1939, Parle Products began manufacturing biscuits, in addition to sweets and
toffees. Having already established a reputation for quality, the Parle brand name grew in
strength with this diversification. Parle Glucose and Parle Monaco were the first brands of
biscuits to be introduced, which later went on to become leading names for great taste and
quality.
Many of the Parle products - biscuits or confectioneries, are market leaders in their category and
have won acclaim at the Monde Selection, since 1971. With a 40% share of the total biscuit
market and a 15% share of the total confectionary market in India, Parle has grown to become a
multi-million dollar company. While to the consumers it's a beacon of faith and trust, competitors
look upon Parle as an example of marketing brilliance.
Over the years Parle has grown to become a multimillion-dollar company with many of the
products as market leaders in their category. Parle Products began manufacturing biscuits, in
addition to sweets and toffees. Having already established a reputation for quality, the Parle
brand name grew in strength with this diversification. Parle Glucose and Parle Monaco were the
first brands of biscuits to be introduced, which later went onto become leading brand names itself
for great taste and quality.

Parle Products has been India's largest manufacturer of biscuits and confectionery for almost 80
years. Makers of the world's largest selling biscuit, Parle-G, and a host of other very popular
brands, the Parle name symbolizes quality, nutrition and great taste. With a reach spanning even
to the remotest villages of India, the company has definitely come a very long way since its
inception.

PRODUCTS OF PARLE

BUSCUITS
Parle-G
Monaco
Golden Arcs
Parle Actifit Digestive
marie
Parle Marie
Hide & Seek
Hide & Seek Fab
Hide & Seek Bourbon
Festo
Happy Happy
Milano
Nimkin
Coconut
20 20 cookies
Jam In
Gold Star
Kreams
Top
Magix
Coconut

SWEETS
Londonderry
Melody
Mango Bite
Kaccha Mango Bite

SNACKS
Parles wafers
Namkeen
fulltoss
Munchies

Chox
Poppins
Mazelo
2 in 1
2 in 1 Eclair
Kismi
Kismi Toffee Bar
Fruit Drops

Cheeslings

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The report is an earnest endeavour made to understand the present market scenario in biscuits
captured by the Parle and the other competitors brand viz., Britannia, Priyagold , and ITC. We
are required to see the coverage by the Parle Product Pvt. Ltd., and bring out the potential and
loyal retailers so that the company could maintain the market leadership in the existing business
scenario in the biscuit and the confectionaries. The study encompasses the penetration of the
existing Parle Products (Biscuits and Confectionaries) and the market potential for the new
product like Golden Arch, Nimkin, Monaco Funion, Melody Softee, Mazelo. Their motives were
to study the working of the distributors in Mumbai market. They have mentioned the problems
and the loop holes in the Parles distribution system and the promotional tools, which they have
found during the course of study and recommended various corrective measures for it. Parle G
Industries has made a rapid progress in the variety, quality and quantity of biscuits and baked
foods and has become Indias biggest brands and the preeminent food brand of the country. It is
equally recognized for its innovative approach to products and marketing. The companys
offerings are spread across the spectrum with products ranging from the healthy and economical
Tiger biscuits the more lifestyle-oriented recently launched Monaco Zabardast
Zebra Having succeeded in garnering the trust of almost one-third of India's one Parle G lion
population and a strong management at the helm means Parle G will continue to dream big on its
path of innovation and quality.
I also studied the behaviour of consumer about their preferences for Biscuits, Candies, and
their overall buying behaviour with the help of questionnaire.

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE PRODUCTS

The term marketing mix refers to unique blend of Product, Place, Promotion & Pricing
strategies designed to produce mutually satisfying exchanges with a target market.
Marketers have to make many decisions in developing a marketing mix that will satisfy
their target customers. However, all of the variables that make up the marketing mix can
be reduced to four basic categories.
1.
2.
3.
4.

PRODUCT
PRICE
PLACE
PROMOTION

Parle - G and product mix

PRODUCT LEVELS
Core benefit- the core benefit of biscuits is to satisfy hunger of the consumer.
Basic product- in the second level, the basic product is biscuits.
Expected product- the consumers expect the product to have a good taste and also give
nutrition.
Augmented product - parle biscuits increase a persons energy levels. This is not always
expected by the consumers and hence exceeds customers expectations
Potential product- in the future parle could come up with different products such as a
snack which could be a combo of chocolate and biscuit.

Classification of products
Based on tangibility- Parle biscuits are tangible, i.e. one can see and touch them.
Based on functional life- Parle biscuits are consumables since biscuits form apart of food and
have a short life.
Based on price and quality- most of Parle biscuits such as Parle-G, Monaco, Krack jack are
mass products but a few Parle biscuits such as Parle hide and seek and Milano are premium
or prestige products.
Based on utility- Parle biscuits are convenience goods. They are staples since they are bought
by consumers regularly. Also they are partly impulse products.

Consistency
The product consistency generally depends on 3 parameters.
1) Production
2) Distribution
3) Consumer end-user
The production process of every parle biscuit follows some basic ingredients like wheat flour,
vegetable oil, inverted syrups, skimmed milk powder ,etc. then depending upon the product,
extra ingredients are added for e.g. in Monaco there might be an extra amount of salt put in to
give it that prominent salt taste, to hide & seek, chocolate chips are added. Etc.
Parle uses the same distribution channels for selling all its products under the biscuit category i.e.
1st , 2nd & the 3rd level of the distribution channels.

The basic end use of all parle products remains the same eating its imply to satisfy hunger.
Products like parle-g may also be consumed for the intake of high glucose levels for immediate
strength & energy.

Brand
The Parle Biscuit brands, such as, Parle-G, Monaco and Krack jack enjoy a strong imagery and
appeal amongst consumers. Be it a big city or a remote village of India, the Parle name
symbolizes quality, health and great taste. And yet, this reputation has been built, by constantly
innovating and catering to new tastes. This can be seen by the success of new brands, such as,
Hide & Seek and Hide & Seek ,Milano.

Packaging and Labeling

Packaging: The time spent by a customer for picking up a product from a retail outlet is a few
seconds; therefore a package should appeal to a customer within such a small interval of time. In
this, both packaging & labeling play an important role in attracting customers both visually &
psychologically.

Packaging:

For Parle G: Parle G was initially recognized by its iconic white and yellow stripped wax paper
wrapper with the baby face on it. Many competitors have tried to sell their lower quality products
by copying the packaging, trying to sell their biscuits as Parel-G; Parle-Jee etc. Due to increasing
competition Parle G now uses plastic wrappers for its packaging. Parle-G comes in 8 different
sizes: 25gms, 44gms,93.5 gms, 231gms, 340.5gms, 462gms, 577.5gms and a 1kg pack just for

Rs.30 which is not usually offered by other brands.

Parle Hide & Seek: It initially came out with 3 variants: Mint, Orange & Chocolate which wasnt
accepted by the masses. However, the production of Mint & orange flavours was stopped.
Chocolate is the only flavour that is running successfully since it is Indias first chocolate chip
biscuit. . Hide & seek biscuit's current packaging has been modified along with lower prices &
better affordability rates. Thus there is a change in size of the product which is prevalent in the
ads. One of the advertisements shows movie actor, Hrithik Roshan walking with a pack of hide&

seek biscuits in the back pocket of his jeans emphasizing on the small size of the product.
Parle hide & seek Milano: This product of Parle has a flashy purple coloured packing which
attracts customers with the whole look of Italian chocolate chip cookies.

Labeling:

Consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious. So it is essential to display the

contents of every product. Every packet of Parle G, Parle hide & seek, Parle hide& seek
Milano has information about the ingredients used, nutrition facts, mailing& emailing
addresses asking for feedback, phone number, packaging date etc. All this along with the
brand name and directions are printed in Hindi too.

Parle - G and Price mix

Parle G has adopted the Market Penetration strategy i.e. low price along with capturing of a
large market Also they focus on low prices and provide good quality products at the same time,
which means it uses the value pricing method.
This benefits Parle G by having a competitive edge in terms of large market share which is
around 40%: both rural and urban presently.
The value-for-money positioning helps generate large sales volumes for the products.
Parle G is available in Re 1,Rs 2, Rs 4 to Rs 25 packet
Profit margin for distributors is 4% and for retailers is 10-12%
Parle-G maintained its price of Rs.4.00 for the last 12 yrs & has seen the variation in its sales
due to increase in price by mere 50p.

3.

Parle - G and Place mix

The extensive distribution network, built over the years, is a major strength for Parle Products.

Parle G biscuits are available to consumers, even in the most remote places and in the smallest
of villages with a population of just 1500.
Parle has nearly 1,500 wholesalers, catering to 4,25,000 retail outlets directly or indirectly. A
two hundred strong dedicated field force services its huge wholesalers & retailers network.
Additionally, there are 31 depots and C&F agents supplying goods to the wide distribution
network.
Factories at strategic locations & Establishment of manufacturing units in rural areas. So it
is seen that Parle has 1 level, 2 level & 3 level distribution channels levels.

Level 1- availability to all departmental stores.

Level 2- Since its an FMCG product this channel exists for customers scattered throughout the
country.
Level 3 - Mass consumption & suitable for national & international coverage. For e.g. Parles
international operations consist of serving markets in the Middle East, Africa, South America, Sri
Lanka, Australia and North America for which the 3 level distribution channel exists.
Parle has a multi-channel marketing system since it uses more than two marketing channels to
reach all its customer segments.

Parle - G and promotion mix

Advertising - It was advertised mainly through press ads. The communication spoke about the
basic benefits of energy and nutrition. In 1989 Parle-G released its Dadaji commercial which
was a huge success and was aired over a period of 6 years. The communication spoke about the
basic benefits of energy and nutrition.

 The next level of communication associated the brand with the positive values of life like
honesty, sharing and caring. Just a few months back a reminder TV commercial was launched for
Parle-G where the product is being called hindustan ki takat
Recently Parle G has started the use of celebrity in their advertisements
Sales promotion - Every year it holds day fairs at branded venues where games and fun events
are organized for the employees of Parle and their
families; where Parle products are giveaway prizes.
Public relations - Parle has done the following for enhancing public relations:
In the year 1997, Parle-G sponsored the tele-serial of the Indian superhero, Shaktimaan that
went on to become a huge success.
In the year 2002, a national level promo - `Parle-G Mera Sapna Sach Hoga' was run for a
period of 6 months. The promo was all about fulfilling the dreams of children.
Parle Saraswati Vandana, one of its initiatives, is an inter-school contest based on the
Saraswati Puja celebrations. Since it started in 2002 it has seen a
tremendous increase in participating each year, with entries coming from schools of West
Bengal.
Parle had introduced the novel promotion called Parle Golu Galata contest in 2005. (Golu
means Doll & Galata means Dhammal.)