Summer Internship Project

A Study of Consumer Behaviour and Brand

Promotion for Mapro Foods Private Limited

(A Project with MAPRO FOODS PRIVATE LIMITED)

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for

Master of Management Studies (MMS)

Academic Year: 2019-2020

Submitted By

SHREYAS SANDIP LIGADE

Roll No. 88
MMS-II, Batch: 2018-20
Chetana’s R. K. Institute of Management and Research,
Bandra (E), Mumbai 400 051
 Declaration

I hereby declare that this report titled, “A Study of Consumer Behaviour and Brand
promotion for Mapro Foods Private Limited”, submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirement of the award for the Master of Management Studies to Chetana’s R.K. Institute
of Management and Research, is my original work and not submitted for award of any degree
or diploma fellowship or for similar titles or prizes.

I further certify that I have no objection and grant the rights to Chetana’s R.K. Institute of
Management and Research to publish any chapter/ project if they deem fit in
Journals/Magazines and newspapers etc. without my permission.

Place : Mumbai

Date :

Name : Shreyas S Ligade

Class : M.M.S; Sem. – II

Roll No. : B - 88
 (Affiliated to University of Mumbai & Approved by AICTE, New Delhi)

Certificate

This is to certify that the project titled “A Study of Consumer Behavior and
Brand Promotion for Mapro Foods Private Limited”, submitted by Shreyas
Ligade to Chetana’s R. K. Institute of Management & Research in partial
fulfillment of the requirement of Master of Management Studies, has been done
under the guidance of Mrs. Geeta Shetti the undersigned during the period May
2019 to June 2019.

Date:

Place: Mumbai

Prof. Geeta Shetti Suhas Gharat

Faculty Guide I/c Director

Fax: 022-26423392
Survey No. 341, Govt. Colony, Bandra (E), Mumbai 400051.
Email: info@crkimr.in
Tel.: 26513346 / 26516643
Website: www.crkimr.in
 Acknowledgements
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every individual who helped me to
complete my summer internship project successfully.

The internship opportunity I had with Mapro Foods was a great chance for learning and
professional development. I am also grateful for getting a chance to meet so many wonderful
people and professionals who led me through this internship period. I express my sincere
gratitude to my industry mentor Mr Subhash Yadav, Area Sales Manager (ASM), Mapro
Foods for supervising me at every stage of the project and giving necessary advices without
which the task would not have been accomplished.

I extend my deep gratitude to Dr.Jayashree Bhakay, Director, CRKIMR, Prof.Suhas Gharat,

interim director for always being helpful and supportive in every task done in institute. I am
extremely thankful and pay my sincere gratitude to my academic mentor Prof Geeta Shetti for
her valuable guidance and support to complete this project. I extend my gratitude to
Placement Committee for giving me this opportunity. I am very grateful to all the non-
teaching staff of computer lab to let me use the system for any kind of data needed and staff
of library to let me refer the books I wanted.

I also acknowledge with a deep sense of reverence, my gratitude towards my parents who
have always supported me morally as well as economically.

Last but not the least gratitude goes to all my friends who directly or indirectly helped me to
complete this project report.

I perceive this opportunity as a big milestone in my career development. I will strive to use
gained skills and knowledge in the best possible way, and I will continue to work on their
improvement, in order to attain desired career objectives. Hope to continue cooperation with
all of you in the future.

Sincerely,

Shreyas S. Ligade
 Table of Contents

Chapter No Particular Page No

Executive Summary 1

Chapter 1 Introduction 2 - 15

1.1 Introduction to the task 2

1.2 Introduction to the Industry 3

1.3 Introduction to the Company 8

1.4 Introduction to the Project 14

Chapter 2 Project Details 16 - 19

2.1 Literature Review 16

2.2 Objectives 19

2.3 Methodology 19

Chapter 3 Data Analysis & Findings 20 – 29

Chapter 4 Conclusions & Recommendations 30 - 31

4.1 Conclusion 30

4.2 Recommendation 31
Chapter 5 Annexure 32 - 34
5.1 Questionnaire 32
5.2 Bibliography 34
 Executive Summary
The summer internship activity was divided into two main tasks. The first task of the project
was aimed at understanding the way sales and distribution is carried out for Mapro food
products and facilitate selling by visiting retail outlets on the given route. The project location
was Kolhapur, Maharashtra. The entire Kolhapur region was divided into 15 unique routes,
each containing 50-60 outlets on average. The task to be carried out was to cover all the retail
outlets along the route, check available stock, take orders and fill the same in the app. All
these activities were carried out by app named, ‘Bizom’. At the end of the day it was required
to visit the distributor office and give all the information regarding the orders to distributors.
The supply of products ordered by retailers would happen at N+2 days (N is the day at which
orders are placed).

The second phase of the project was brand promotion. This was carried through product
sampling at various locations in Kolhapur and Gadhinglaj city. It was expected to let
customers taste the product and take their feedback regarding the product. It was a good
experience as I learnt various reasons why a product can succeed or why it cannot. It also
helped me to understand how to overcome rejections. Customers used to give various
arguments regarding why they don’t want to buy the product but understanding those reasons
and giving them alternate options was important considering there was a new product that we
were dealing with.

Study methodology for the project is based on collection of primary data through
questionnaire and secondary data collection through data available through internet and
discussion with other employees of the organization. A questionnaire helped to understand
how a consumer decides to buy fruit based products and how a particular consumers
perceives brand Mapro. Questions were focused to identify how familiar the customers are
with the project, how they perceive the product with respect to competing brands and how
important the parameters like price, quality and nutritional content are before making a sound
choice. A clear understanding of this would result into useful insights into actual buying
behavior of customer, understand their needs and design products to align with their wants
and needs. At the end of the project it can be concluded that Mapro is market leader in fruit
concentrate category and has good presence in western Maharashtra region. The company has
to adapt to more conventional means of marketing work if it is deciding to venture into new
markets.

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 Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction to Task

The project is done in the FMCG sector and specifically food and beverage sector. As an
intern, I was asked to perform two main tasks. One of the tasks was to understand and carry
out the general trade activities by visiting retail outlets in the vicinity of assigned areas in the
city of Kolhapur. During this activity, I was asked to visit the retail stores along the route,
check for the stock of products, fill the details about the available products in the app, Bizom
and take orders from the retailors for the new stock. The task also demanded to understand
various issues that retailor were facing with respective to product delivery and overall sale
experience. Retailors act like a bridge between customer and the company as they provide
useful insights about the customer satisfaction level with the product and customer
expectations if any. So it was also expected to engage with retailors in a professional and
empathetic manner to understand their problems.

Second part of the task was to perform product sampling activities at designated locations in
Kolhapur and Gadhinglaj city. In this task, focus was specifically on newly launched
beverages by the company. As a part of the task, I was asked to request customers to taste the
product and collect their feedback and suggestions if any. Also I was expected to increase the
sale through this activity by convincing customers to purchase the beverages. Following are
the products promoted through product sampling activity.

 Mapro RTD (Ready to Drink Juices)

a) Orange
b) Mango
c) Green Apple
d) AamPanna
e) Jeera Masala
 MaproCoconata( Ready to drink juices with coconut crush)
a) Mango
b) Orange
c) Pineapple

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1.2 Introduction to Industry

FMCG is the one of the largest sectors in the Indian economy. To be precise, it is the 4th
largest sector in Indian economy. Growing awareness, easier access, changing lifestyle,
increased internet penetration; these are some of the reasons for tremendous growth in FMCG
sector. Till date, India’s urban sector has contributed the most for the FMCG sector. However
it has been observed that in the last few years, the rural FMCG market has grown at a faster
pace as compared with urban India. Both rural and Semi urban segments are growing at a
faster pace and FMCG products account for more than half of the total spending in rural
areas.

Market conditions that are favourable to the sector and increase in disposable income are
going to boost the FMCG market. The sector is expected to grow at a compounded annual
growth rate of 22 per cent and is expected to reach from US$ 68 billion in FY18 to US$ 103
billion by 2020. Growing youth population and increasing disposable income have also been
the key growth drivers for the sector. Brand recognition has helped to fuel demand even in
rural areas. There are three main segments in FMCG sector, i.e., Food & beverage,
Healthcare, Household & Personal Care which accounts for 19 %, 31% and 50%
respectively.

Companies like Patanjali, Dabur are investing heavily to make the most of growing demand
and increase profits sustainably. It is reported that patanjali is planning to spend close to US$

3
740 million to set up food parks in various states like Maharashtra, assam, Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh.

1.2.1 Government Initiatives:

The government has allowed 100 percent FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in food processing
and single brand retail and 51 percent in multi-brand retail. This is definitely going to bolster
employment and supply channels, and also provide high visibility for FMCG brands in
organized retail markets, increasing consumer spending and encouraging more product
launches by companies in this sector. Following are few major initiatives taken by the Indian
government to promote the FMCG sector in India.

a) Foreign companies can invest in India with a capitalization of $100 million

b) A consumer protection bill with special focus on setting up a mechanism to ensure
affordable, accessible, speedy and timely delivery of justice to customers.
c) The Introduction of GST to benefit the FMCG sector as most of the FMCG products
like detergents, shampoos, edible oil etc now comes under 18 per cent tax bracket
against the previous 23-24 per cent rate.
d) GST has played a vital role to give a new direction to the way logistics is perceived
by FMCG companies. Because of changed rules of the game, all the organizations
are aligning their operations to become more and more efficient by transforming
their operations into larger warehousing and much wider reach of logistics.

1.2.2 Growth Drivers:

There have been different reasons for this growth in FMCG sector. Shift to organized market,
increase in penetration, easy access & rural consumption are some of the important reasons
for the same. Organized sector growth is expected to grow as the share of unorganized market
in the FMCG sector is decreasing with increased level of brand consciousness. Easier accesss
to branded products because of rise of e-commerce platforms as well as dedicated distribution
channels has helped to increase sale in rural areas. It has helped to increase customer
convenience to ensuring timely delivery of their products right at their doorsteps. Online
grocery stores like Grofers, BigBasket, Flipkart& Amazon Pantry has made sure FMCG
products are available at customer’s doorstep.

4
1.2.3 Macro Economic Factors:

Revenues of FMCG sector are estimated to reach US$ 103 billion in 2020. It has already
reached US$ 52.7 billion in FY18 and. It is expected that sector will grow at 11-12 percent in
2019. Number of 5avourable macros such as increase in private consumption, increased rural
spending and moderate inflation has positively affected the sector. The recent union budget
has helped to daw initiatives in order to increase spending of the customer in the middle
class. They are expected to boost consumer confidence and help increase demand for branded
consumer products. FMCG sector is also supposed to get support for growth from Inland
Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) multi modal transportation project of freight village at
Varanasi which will bring together retailers, warehouse operators and logistics service
providers. Food Security Bill (FSB) has helped to create a new consumer class for FMCG
products. FSB reduce prices of food grains for Below Poverty Line (BPL) households and
ultimately allowing them to spend resources on goods and services, including FMCG
products.

1.2.4 Growth opportunities in FMCG sector:

Major players like HUL, ITC, Nestle,etc have a strong distribution network in rural India.
They also have an opportunity to gain the most from the contribution of technological
advances like e-commerce. Indian consumers have always shown that if a particular company
experiments and innovates well and delivers a quality product, there is high chance that it will
resonate with customers. Easy acceptance of Men’s fairness cream is one of the best example
of the same. Products such as sugar free Chyawanprash, gel based facial bleach, Epigamia’s
flavoured yoghurt, Nestle Maggi’s cuppa mania noodles; drinking yoghurt have shown that if
done right, product innovation can go a long way in building a loyal and rewarding customer
base. There has been a changed trend in Indian FMCG market. Because of increased
awareness of customers to world class brands and the quality they offer, customers even in
rural areas have changed their preferences from essential products to premium products.
Sensing this trend, premium brands have become flexible and have started manufacturing
smaller packs of their products. Indian FMCG firms can leverage India’s position as a
strategic sourcing hub where they can compete with each other on parameters like cost
efficiency, innovative product development and economical manufacturing to match with
international leaders. Low penetration levels offer room for growth across consumption

5
categories. Projections show that forty percent of all FMCG purchases in India will be online
by 2020, thus making it a US$ 5-6 billion business opportunity.

Indian FMCG sector is reportedly riding high on two main factors. Increased disposable
income and low penetration level in rural areas. Because of this it provides an ultimate
opportunity to create demand for products and make customers aware about respective
company’s products. Indian major Dabur has planned to invest almost US$ 37 million to US$
47 million only for capacity expansion. It is also looking ahead for some domestic
acquisitions. RP-Sanjiv Goenka group has created US$ 15 million venture fund to help
identify and invest in FMCG startup’s. The focus on Union Budget on sectors like MSME,
agriculture and allied businesses, healthcare, education, infrastructure is directly going impact
the FMCG sector. Government is also taking considerable steps to ensure it keeps giving the
necessary push to FMCG sector. The number of mega food parks has increased extensively
from just 2 to 13 between years 2008 to 2018. The total preservation and processing capacity
has grown from 308000 to 1.41 million, whearas the total number of food labs has also
increased from 31 to 42 during 2014-2018.

6
1.2.5 Competitor Analysis:

Indian food and beverage sector has emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors in Indian
economy as it has immense potential and value addition. Indian government has taken
considerable steps in the growth and development of Indian food industry. Government has
been approving joint ventures (JV), giving industrial licenses, and also allowing 100 per cent
export oriented units. Food and Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has planned to
invest around rs. 482 crore to strengthen food testing infrastructure in India. Result of all
these initiatives is increased and healthy competition in the sector. Some of the prominent
competitors in this sector for Mapro Foods are as below:

 Kissan: This is the first fruit and vegetable brand in India and rightly so it has early
mover advantage in this category. Its Jams and Ketchups are one of the most preferred
products for Indian consumers. This company was first introduced for British settlers in
India after which it was acquired by UB group led by Vitthal Malya and finally being
acquired by HUL. Its focus has always been on real ingredients and fresh fruits. Mapro
needs to be more innovative in its product offerings to compete with Kissan.

 Parle Agro: Parle Agro is one of India’s largest and fastest growing food and Beverage
Company. It is also the first Indian company to introduce fruit based drink – Frooti. It
also sells rights of carbonated beverages and also introduced packaged drinking water
named Bailey. As Mapro has also launched fruit based ready to drink beverages, it can
certainly learn from Parle Agro in terms of the way in which it has scaled up with more
than 76 manufacturing facilities and a widespread network of 3500 distributors. It has
Appy Fizz as one of its best offerings.

 Mala’s: Located in the same region as that of Mapro, Mala has been a tough competitor
of Mapro right from the time when Mapro was founded. With almost same product
offerings as that of Mapro, Mala’s poses a threat to its market share. It has products in
fruit jams, ketchups as well as fruit crush and squash category. With product offerings
like fruit fillings for bakery applications Mala’s has been investing heavily in product
innovation. To keep pace with this competitor, and to make sure Mala’s doesn’t cut
corners with market share, Mapro has to keep coming with innovative offerings.

7
1.3 Introduction to the Company:

Mapro Foods is located around idyllic hill town of Panchgani in western India. The company
was founded by Mr. Kishor Vora in 1959. Since then the company has grown extensively
over the last few decades. The company manufactures fruit jams, fruit beverage concentrates
– Crushes & Squashes, fruit bars. In 1959, Mr. Vora started operations in small room, as a
home business with a mutually beneficial relationship with the farmers to make strawberry
jams for product sales. This led to the launch of brand Mapro in 1978. Mapro started its first
self-owned factory in 1989. Then it set up its state-of-the-art cold storgae at Wai,
Maharashtra, in 2005 which is capable of precooling 20 MT of fresh fruits and chocolates.
Mapro has been built on its founder’s philosophy of developing products that are innovative,
as well as budget friendly.

One of the biggest positives for the company is its location. As it has been located in tourist
location of Panchgani, it has helped the company to create a brand from scratch and that too
without having to spend much on advertising. In Panchgani, the brand has an indispensable
presence. It’s all properties are in prime locations, linking Mapro with people’s memory with
the town. To capitalize on brand Mapro’s popularity, the company has set up Mapro Garden
and Mapro Café; places where it could interact closely with the visiting customers. It has
helped the company to know the consumers better and develop product lines that are as close
to the customer needs as possible. So far the company is well established and recognized in
Western India. The company’s next major expansion is focusing south, followed by north.
The company believes it needs different mindset and different approach as well as different
staregies for entering these markets.

8
In a quest to better understand and engage with customer, Mapro has been successfully
organizing strawberry festival in the hill town of Panchgani from past several years. Aimed at
spreading the sweetness of fruit and awareness regarding the company across the country,
festival was marked with interactive games and goodies. It receives huge response from
visitors all over the country. The visitors get a chance to pluck fresh strawberries from a farm
and taste it fresh. This is one of the most anticipated events for the strawberry lovers and to
the locals which is held in the month of April. The festival was started to promote the
strawberries when the market demand fuelled the growth and production. The festival has
attracted tourists from across the country and has helped increase tourism in Mahabaleshwar
as well as.

In addition to strawberries, new strawberry creations like strawberry sandwich, chocolate

dipped with strawberries, chocolate sauce and fresh strawberries, strawberry chocolate pizza
with strawberry toppings, chocoberrywithch made of wheat bread, and strawberry bhel are
also available in strawberry festival to taste and satisfy hunger. Other attractions of the event
are live orchestra, free strawberry picking stall, watercolor tattoos, farm visits, lezim dance (a
type of folk dance in Maharashtra), and Mapro food park visits. To give the festival a greater
visibility the festival has been shifted to Mumbai.

9
1.3.1 Product Categories:

The product mix of Mapro consists of 6 product lines. Each of these product lines in turn
consists of several sub-lines. The main 6 product lines are liquid concentrates, syrups, fruit
jams, ketchups and toppings, chocolates and newly launched ready to drink fruit beverages.
Mapro has successfully segmented its products under 5 sub-brands. Those are Mapro, Falero,
Lounge, PRA, and Mazaana. Different products are categorized into these 5 sub-brands. The
entire product mix for Mapro can be understood with the help of following figure.

10
 Product Mix for Mapro Foods

Liquid Syrups Chocolate Toppings Ready to Fruit

Concen s and bar and drink Jams
trates (Lounge) candies Ketchups beverages Spreads

Pink Guava Green Apple Falero Chocolate Orange Mix fruit

Citrus Blue Vanilla Cafero Butterscotch Mango Mango

Kokam crush Blue Curacao Fruity sweets Strawberry Jeera Masal Orange

Butterscotch Hazelnut Qubes Candy Tomato Ketchup Green Apple Strawberry

Custered Apple Watermelon FrubblesAamPanna

Alphonso Peach Falchoos

Kiwi-crush Grenadine Mazaana

Thandai Crush Cinnamon

Litchi crush

Pineapple crush

Black Current

Green Apple

Mango

Orange

Mix fruit

Strawberry

11
1.3.2 SWOT Analysis:

Successful businesses build on their strengths, correct their weaknesses and protect against
internal weaknesses and external threats. They also keep a watch on their overall business
environment and recognize and exploit new opportunities faster than its competitors. SWOT
analysis provide information that helps in synchronizing the firm’s resources and capabilities
with the competitive environment in which the firm operates. As the name indicates SWOT is
an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Below is the
comprehensive and detailed SWOT analysis for Mapro Foods.

a) Strengths:

Mapro Foods is located in a tourist destination. This has helped the firm to build a brand
without spending heavily on advertising. High quality and fresh products is also one of the
strengths of the company. During the initial stages, the company was able to create a
reputation for itself as the only fruit based product firm to have fruit content in their products
as high as 45 percent against their rival’s 25. This positive brand image has transformed into
a loyal customer base for the company. The company has also emphasized on providing great
experience to customers and tourists than pushing the sales. Development of Mapro cafes and
Mapro Gardens has given the company to understand the customers better and develop the
product lines that are as closely aligned to the customer needs as possible.

b) Weaknesses :

One of the notable weaknesses can be seen in the philosophy of company to not advertise its
products traditionally or through digital media. Even though the company gets a huge footfall
of about 2 million customers to its Mapro Garden where it can make the most of it but the
problem here is that it fails to increase its reach beyond the customers visiting this tourist
spot. Thus weak advertisement and marketing are one of its weaknesses. This has resulted
into limited geographical reach and confined its presence to western India.Mapro do provide
replacement policies to retailers to replace the expired products, but the implementation of
the policy is really weak and retailers have to wait for months to get their products replaced.
This might result into bad brand image in the long run.

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c) Opportunities :

The emerging trends in the food and beverage category show that there is growing demand
for healthier food products. The firm can leverage this by introducing sugar free categories of
the products in the fruit concentrates and ready to drink beverages category. Also attracting
young millennial customer has become utmost important not just for growth but for survival.
Conveying these young millennial that how well the company’s products are well associated
with their needs is important. To do this even if fully fledged marketing and advertising is not
possible, least the company can do is work on merchandising its products through retail shops
and other stores.

d) Threats :

As mentioned earlier, health conscious customers are avoiding confectionary products which
are one of the biggest revenue generators for the company. If the company keeps on ignoring
this trend then it will definitely be a threat. Also competition with well-established companies
as well as regional companies can become daunting if the company doesn’t take steps to
innovate its product lines. Increased regulations in food industry have always scared even the
behemoths of the sector like HUL and ITC. To avoid such scenarios companies should focus
on incorporating well established standards.

Strengths Weaknesses

 Leveraging location advantage  Absence of traditional

 Positive word of mouth marketing
 Strong customer engagement  Limited geographic reach

Opportunities Threats

 Introduction of sugar free  Regional competitors like

products MALA’s
 Attracting young millennial  Health conscious customer
avoiding confectionary

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1.4 Introduction to the Project:

Mapro has a wide range of products. In order to see all the products being sold in every
possible area one needs to implement a good sales pitching while taking orders. During visits
to retailors it was observed that they have few problems. One of the retailor mentioned that
the products that we were pitching were already available in modern trade outlets like D-Mart
and Big Bazaar at a discounted price, so it is not viable to keep the products as customers are
most likely to buy these products from there. It took an effort to convince retailors that not all
customers go to those outlets for everyday shopping. Also, most of products of Mapro have a
seasonal appeal. Considering that the duration of the project was during summer season, it
was extremely important to make the most of this by pushing sales through product sampling
activities to increase brand awareness and gain useful customer insights about the products.

The topic of the project is to study the consumer behavior and consumer perception towards
Mapro food products and study the effectiveness of brand promotion activity like product
sampling. The project is focused on understanding how consumer behavior affects the sale of
the product and what necessary steps can company take to maximize its sales. By
understanding the customer feedback through retailors it becomes easy to provide right
product at right time to retailors and avoid unnecessary inventory at distributor warehouses as
well as to retailors. The project is also aimed at understanding how promotional activities like
product sampling helps to increase brand awareness and influence the customers to buy the
product. Even though online purchasing has changed the way customers purchase their
FMCG products, tough and feel stills plays and important role during the purchase. It
becomes even more important when a company is launching a new product or service. This
part of marketing which is commonly known as experiential marketing helps to gain useful
customer insights during the initial stages of product launch so it becomes easy to incorporate
changes in the product if necessary.

By studying the results of this project, the organization can get useful insights about
consumer behavior and preference with respect to taste, flavours, and packaging so that the
organization can modify its products according to the needs of the consumer which in turn
boost the sales for the products.

14
Second part of this project was to conduct brand promotion activities by carrying out product
sampling activities at various locations. This activity was carried out at following locations:

a) Modern Foods, Gadhinglaj

b) New Sandip Bakery, Kalamba, Kolhapur
c) Sfruti Food Mall, Kolhapur
d) Yewale’s Milk Corner, Rajarampuri, Kolhapur
e) Jaswant Sweets, Kolhapur

During this activity it was expected to give free samples to customers so that they can taste
the product and get more familiar with it. After doing so customers were asked about product
feedback and had to be convinced to buy the product. Some customers would like the product
and they were happy to receive the product within discounts. The customers who didn’t like it
give genuine feedback and suggestions regarding changes that needs to be done to make the
product more effective and more compelling. Also it was important to make customers aware
about other product categories that Mapro has. So during product sampling other product like
fruit crushes and squashes were also kept for display so that customers enquire about those
products as well if they are not aware about them. This decision proved to be successful as lot
of customers who were not aware about Mapro’s wide variety of products got familiar with
them.

15
 Chapter 2
PROJECT DETAILS

2.1 Literature Review:

 “Buying behavior of consumers for food products in an emerging economy”,by Jabir

Ali and SanjeevKapoor (2010) throws light on how consumers preference towards
food products are based on factors like price, quality, variety, packaging, and non-
seasonal availability. It also depends on how convenient the marketplace is for
purchasing, additional services like attractiveness for children, basic amenities and
affordability. There are obvious factors that have led to change in the way fast moving
consumer goods are consumed. They are increase in disposable income, global
interaction, urbanization, education, movements of households towards higher income
groups, changes in lifestyle and structure. Because of these emerging trends, there is
one new consumer preference that has emerged and that is shopping convenience and
it demands greater efficiency, greater quality and safety standards.

 “A study on consumer behavior of confectionary products”, by T.Ventakeswarlu

(2015) discusses about the buying pattern and amount spent in confectionary
products. It was observed that celebrity brand endorsement doesn’t help to increase
the sale in confectionary product market. Also the price and taste of product is
important consideration for customers. If the desired product is not available then
customers are more likely to switch to other brands of confectionary products. Along
with the traditional 4 P’s, the 5th P i.e., packaging plays a huge role in attracting the
customer. With increase in online business platforms, distributors can take help of
exclusive online strategies to leverage this opportunity and maximize the profit for the
company.

 “Branding and emerging branding trends in beverages industry”, by Dr.

AnirudhRaghav, Gaurav Sharma and RichaKhandelwal (2013) explains the revelance
and importance of studying the old and current methods of branding trends to stay
competitive in the industry. As personalization and customization become more and
more important, customers and their interactions with product, service or experience

16
 has become equally important. Brand design is of less use unless the brand is viable or
sustainable. It has to be strong enough to be agreed upon.
 “A comparative study of growth, challenges and opportunities in FMCG of rural
market”, by Kavitha T.C (2012) provided detailed information about how rural
marketing is emerging as an indispensable part of marketing strategy of most of the
FMCG companies. Demand in rural areas is backed by change in demographics and
change in the pattern in which products are consumed. Because of the cut throat
competition and almost near saturation situation in urban areas, many FMCG
companies are driven to chalk out bold new strategies for rural India. Because of the
unlimited opportunity in rural areas, FMCG companies are putting in place parallel
rural marketing strategies. But along with this opportunity, challenges are bound to
accompany. FMCG companies have to make the most of this opportunity with
growing product awareness and increasing brand loyalty and brand awareness.

 “Slowdown makes candies, toffies sweeter than in India” by RatanBhushan, in

Economic times (2013) discusses how the trend has changed from chocolate
consumption to candies consumption. While choclates are priced at Rs. 5 for a pack of
10, confectionary prices start from RS 1 or 2. Factors such as product innovation,
higher investment in distribution and marketing spends, new products have
contributed to this trend. Stable sugar prices from past few months and rising prices
from 50 paisa to 1 rupee has led to increase in price margin which led to re-
investment in advertising and distribution that in turn has led to higher consumption.
Also the fact that candies and gums don’t require refrigerators like chocolates make
them more convenient to store motivating confectionary makers to widen the product
range.

 “Consumer behavior for fruit juice market in India” by VikramGahlawat, Rambir,

AshmiaGarg (2014) discusses consumer preference towards fruit juices in India. It
explains even though Indian market is still in its infancy stage, it account for 10% of
global beverage consumption and is only behind USA and China. The consumers are
lean towards brand that they come across through television, newspaper, and
magazines and banners displayed in roads and web sites. Consumer behavior towards
fruit juices and fruit drinks used to be driven by the assumption that only sports
persons and fitness connoisseurs prefer having fruit drinks. But as a result of

17
 increased awareness through print and digital media and increased health
consciousness has promoted people to drink fruit juices.
 “A study of consumer preference and demographic profiling for fresh fruit juice”, by
Pooja Boga and Tejaswini Khanolkar tries to explain the viewpoint of customers
towards fresh fruit juices. It attempts to find what encourages consumers to consumer
a particular drink and what makes them avoid a particular drink. The factors like age,
income, gender, education, price, packaging, advertisement affect consumer
perception. The study also concluded that health conscious people spend the same
amount on purchase of fresh fruit juices irrespective of their gender. As the pace of
life is increasing day by day, more and more people will consume fresh fruit juices
and this provides an opportunity for marketers.

 “A study of consumer buying behavior towards ready to eat food industry”, by Saloni
Solanki and Simran Jain explains how changing lifestyles and has put tremendous
pressure on the way Indians cook and consume food. Because of changed lifestyle
people prefer easily available and ready to eat food products rather than spending too
much time in cooking. Most of the dual income families (both husband and wife
office goers) want to spend less time on cooking due to unavailability of time.
Because of rise in income levels, increased literacy rate and proliferation of
communication and technology consumers are becoming more aware about the food
they intake and decision making is done based on wealth of resource availability.

 Indian juice market outlook, 2021 shows Indian origin companies like Dabur and
Parle dominating the Indian juice market whereas players like Pepsico and Coca cola
are not even expected to lead in 2021. Beverage market in India is bifurcated into
alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Non-alcoholic beverages are further classified
into carbonated and non-carbonated industries. This report explains that people
demand naturalness and particular taste sensation with as few calories as possible.
This observation is corroborated with the growth of companies like Raw Pressery and
Hector beverage’s Paper Boat. The manufacturers are compelled to bring new
packaging trends to attract customers as well as help achieve cost efficiency in long
run. Because of increased awareness of people towards health conscious products, top
players like Dabur are working towards creating fruit juices containing 100 percent
juice content.

18
2.2 Objectives of the project:

Well defined project objectives help to describe the desired result of the project. They should
be as specific as possible to make sure they are measurable and achievable. Following are the
project objectives for this summer internship project.

a) To understand the overall business of Mapro Foods.

b) To assess the consumer buying behavior for the products of the company.
c) To understand and carry out brand promotional activities through product sampling.
d) To generate sales for the company.

2.3 Study Methodology:

Methodology includes the steps and ways in which we have collected data. Methods used in
this project comprised of primary and secondary research. Primary research consists of
building up questionnaire and collecting customer responses to assess the consumer buying
behavior towards the products of the company. This was done during the promotional
activities done such as during product sampling. Customers were asked to taste the product
that was on offer and were asked a set of questions to understand their feedback about their
experience. Efforts were taken to understand whether there is a general trend in the buying
behavior of all customers and tried to analyze the same. Secondary data collection comprised
of data collection through digital mediums and reports available on the internet.

a) Questionnaire to study the customer buying behavior.

b) Data available on internet, reports.
c) Data collected through discussion with seniors in the organization.

Data collection source

Primary Data Secondary Data

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 Chapter 3
Data Analysis & Findings

Following is the detailed analysis done to understand the consumer buying behavior for the
products. A detailed questionnaire was prepared and responses were collected to understand
the same.

Q. 1) what is your gender?

Gender No of responses % of responses

Male 50 52.6
Female 45 47.4

Interpretation: Gender is one of the most important demographics to understand the

consumer behavior. Consumer preference might vary according to the gender demographic.
From the total respondent’s it was observed that total 50 respondents were male and 45 were
female.

20
Q.2) which of the following you are most likely to associate with when you hear the word
Mapro?

Association No of Responses % of responses

Company’s Logo 8 8.42
Company’s Tagline 2 2.105
Hill Station - 67 70.52
Mahabaleshwar
Fruit based product 15 15.78
company
Other 3 3.15

No of Responses

2 Company’s Logo
3 8
15
Company’s Tagline

Hill Station -
Mahabaleshwar
Fruit based product
company
67
Other

Interpretation: Customers were asked what are they most likely to associate with when they
first here the word Mapro. This was done to understand how good the brand recall amongst
customers is. From the responses it was observed that almost 70 percent of the respondents
associate the word Mapro with the hill station Mahabaleshwar. This goes in line with the
company policy to offer customers an experience that they will remember when they visit the
hill station and make sure customers strongly associate the brand with the hill station. But at
the same time it is evident that the company needs to work on its logo and tagline so that it
can have a much longer brand recall for the customers who don’t visit Mahabaleshwar.

21
Q.3) Which of the products of Mapro have you ever used or are aware of?

Name of the product No of Responses % of Responses

Fruit Crushes, Squashes 50 52.63
Fruit Jams 14 14.73
Ketchups 8 8.8
Confectionary ( Falero, 20 21.05
Mazana)
Ready to drink fruit juice 3 3.15

60
No of Responses
50

40

30

20

10

0
Fruit Crushes, Fruit Jams Ketchups Confectionary ( Ready to drink
Squashes Falero, fruit juice
Mazana)

Interpretation: In this question customers were asked which of the products customers are
aware of or have tried before. According to these responses it’s quite clear that customers are
more aware about its fruit concentrates segment and confectionary products and less aware
about recently launched ready to drink fruit juice category. So emphasis should be on taking
efforts to ensure more visibility of newly launched products.

22
Q.4) which company’s products would you prefer in fruit jams category?

Product No of responses % of Responses

Mapro 19 20
Kissan 60 63.17
Mala’s 8 8.42
Tops 3 3.15
Cremica 5 5.26

No of Responses

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Mapro Kissan Mala’s Tops Cremica

Interpretation:Customers were asked what they would prefer in fruit jams category if given
a choice. From the results it’s quite clear that Kissan enjoys the position of being a market
leader with more than half of the respondents saying they would prefer kissan jam above
other brands of jams. It is followed by Mapro which enjoys good brand recognition in
western Indian especially western Maharashtra. Other brands such as Tops, Cremicaenjoys
less market share.

23
Q.5) which company’s products would you prefer in ketchups category?

Product No of Responses % of Responses

Nestle’s Maggi Ketchup 35 36.84
Kissan 30 31.57
Mapro 15 15.81
Heinz 10 10.52
Del Monte 5 5.26

No of Respondents

5
10 Nestle’s Maggi Ketchup
35 Kissan
15 Mapro
Heinz
Del Monte
30

Interpretation: Customers were asked which type of ketchup’s they would prefer. Global
giant Nestle enjoys good reputation in this category and is preferred by most of the
respondents. Hindustan Unilever’s Kissan has also been successfully able to create a market
for itself and preferred by almost the same number of respondents as the respondents for
Nestle. Mapro is at third place and has opportunity to grow provided it focuses on product
innovation and offers value to customers. Heinz and Del Monte complete the category.

24
Q.6) which company’s product would you prefer in fruit juice category?

Product No of Responses % of Responses

Real (Dabur) 52 54.73
B-Natural 12 12.63
Tropicana 20 21.05
Paper Boat 7 7.3
Mapro 4 4.29

No of Responses

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Real (Dabur) B-Natural Tropicana Paper Boat Mapro

Interpretation:In the next question customers were asked about their response to Mapro’s
recently launched ready to drink fruit beverages. From the analysis it is quite evident that in
the fruit juice customers prefer Real fruit juice from Dabur. Dabur has also successfully been
able to extend its product offering by introducing Dabur Active, a sugar free variant of its
fruit juices. It is followed by PepsiCo’s Tropicana and ITC’s B- Natural. Hector beverage’s
Paper boat has shown tremendous growth in recent years and is capitalizing well on its
strategy of inducing nostalgia through its advertisements and products. Mapro being recently
launched is still is in its nascent stage and needs to work hard to catch-up with the rest.

25
Q.7) how important is company brand while purchasing fruit based product?

Responses No of Responses % of Responses

1 ( Not important at all) 3 3.15
2 6 6.32
3 19 20
4 39 41.05
5 ( Very Important ) 28 29.48

No of Responses

3 6

28 1 ( Not important at all)

19 2
3
4
5 ( Very Important )

39

Interpretation:In this question customers were asked how important a particular company’s
brand is while purchasing fruit based products. Customers were asked to rate their responses
from 1 to 5, 1 being least important and 5 being very important. Majority of respondents gave
4 and 5 as responses which means a brand is necessary while purchasing a product. These
responses reaffirm the fact that brands help people save decision making time and provide
safety. Customers are more likely to choose a brand that they have already tried before or
have familiarity with it. Mapro can certainly take insights from this and can focus on building
a national brand and one stop choice for fruit based products.

26
Q.8)How important is product quality while purchasing fruit based product?

Responses No of Responses % of Responses

1 ( Not important at all) 3 3.15
2 7 7.36
3 20 21.07
4 40 42.11
5 ( Very Important ) 25 26.32

No of Responses
5 ( Very Important )

3
No of Responses

1 ( Not important at all)

0 10 20 30 40 50

Interpretation:In this question customers were asked how important product quality is while
purchasing fruit based product. Customers were asked to give responses on a scale of 1 to 5.
85 of the total responses were in the range of 3 to 5. It is quite obvious that customers expect
a good product quality irrespective of the product category and thus company should focus on
continuing to give high product quality.

27
Q.9) How important is product price while purchasing fruit based product?

Responses No of Responses % of Responses

1 ( Not important at all) 3 3.15
2 5 5.26
3 25 26.32
4 32 33.69
5 ( Very Important ) 30 31.58

No of Responses

3 5

30 1 ( Not important at all)

2
25
3
4
5 ( Very Important )

32

Interpretation: In this question respondents were asked how important is product price
while purchasing a fruit based product. According to the responses above it is clear that price
is indeed important while making buying decision. Due to the unexpected effects of price on
consumers it is necessary to set right price from the beginning. Indian consumers always
being price conscious with respect to price is one of the reason why it becomes imperative to
set right prices for the products.

28
Q.10) How important is nutritional content while purchasing fruit based product?

Responses No of Responses % of Responses

1 ( Not important at all) 4 4.21
2 5 5.26
3 32 33.68
4 25 26.32
5 ( Very Important ) 29 30.53

No of Responses
35
30
25
20
15
No of Responses
10
5
0
1 ( Not 2 3 4 5 ( Very
important Important
at all) )

Interpretation: In this question respondents were asked about the importance of nutritional
content for them while purchasing a fruit based product. As expected it is evident that
majority of the respondents believe that nutritional content is very important to them. More
than 90 percent of the respondents were of the opinion that nutrition content is important
before making the purchasing decision. This gives very important insight to business
organizations to align their products with the general trend of having more and more hygienic
or health conscious products. It is also important that nutrition content of the product to be
clearly written and displayed on the packaging.

29
 Chapter 4
CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 Conclusions:

Here are some of the conclusions drawn from the observations over the two months.

1. Mapro is the market leader in fruit crush and squash category and has done well to
extend its offerings beyond fruit jams and crushes. It has sub divided its entire product
mix into 5 different sub brands like Mapro, Falero, Lounge, Pra, Mazanna. It is also
trying to enter into new product offerings by launching Khakhra and Ginger extract.

2. Mapro has very good brand image among retailers in western Maharashtra. As Mapro
has been located in hill town of Panchgani it has created a strong foothold in this
geographic region. Both retailors and customers are aware about the brand as it has
successfully been able to register its place in the minds of consumer visiting the hill
town of Panchgani.

3. Some retailers are facing issues with delivery and replacement. One of the retailors
was complaining that the products delivered to him had expired months ago but still
he didn’t get the replacement. This may in turn hamper the brand image and may
result in potential loss of business.

4. Customers are not aware about the entire product range of Mapro. As mentioned
earlier apart from its core business of jams and fruit concentrates, it has widespread
product offerings. These include chocolate coated dates and Paan, Gulkand, Honey
etc. Customers need to be informed about other product offerings through enhanced
presence (Merchandising) in retail outlets or Modern trade.

5. Mapro has a weak online & offline presence. The company has a no advertising
philosophy as it justifies this by the argument that it is already trying to advertise
through the customers visiting the hill station. But this strategy has its loopholes as it
cannot cater to customers not visiting Mahabaleshwar or Panchgani.

30
 6. Brand promotion helps the customer to get familiar with the product that they might
not have heard about. During product sampling I made sure to keep other product for
display as well. This ensured that even if customers don’t want to try the product or
don’t want to purchase the product, they were most likely to enquire about the
product. So giving sufficient visibility to the products is necessary.

 Recommendations and suggestions :

After carefully analyzing the responses received by the respondents and data collected
through secondary sources following are the suggestions and recommendations:

a) Following the trends that clearly shows customers inclination towards more health
conscious foods, introducing sugar free variants of fruit beverages might help to
create a new product line and help server customers better.
b) Considering growing role of millennial in decision making in buying FMCG products
efforts should be taken to attract this highly influential group of customers to ensure
future growth.
c) Keeping the future expansion in mind the company should take help of industry
experts and professionals to set up a market where it has limited reach. E.g., the brand
is an indispensable part in Western Maharashtra but significantly lower presence in
other parts of the country. To ensure wider reach more focus should be on traditional
advertising and marketing.

31
 Chapter 5
ANNEXURE

5.1 Questionnaire

Q. 1) what is your gender?

a) Male
b) Female
c) Prefer Not to say

Q.2) which of the following you are most likely to associate with when you hear the word
Mapro?

a) Company logo
b) Company’s Tagline
c) Hill Station – Mahabaleshwar
d) Fruit based product company
e) Other

Q.3) Which of the products of Mapro have you ever used or are aware of?

a) Fruit Crushes, Squashes

b) Fruit Jams
c) Ketchups
d) Confectionary ( Falero, Mazana)
e) Ready to drink fruit juice

Q.4) which company’s products would you prefer in fruit jams category?

a) Mapro
b) Kissan
c) Mala’s
d) Tops
e) Cremica

32
Q.5) which company’s products would you prefer in ketchups category?

a) Nestle’s Maggi Ketchup

b) Kissan
c) Mapro
d) Heinz
e) Del Monte

Q.6) which company’s product would you prefer in fruit juice category?

a) Real ( Dabur)
b) B-Natural
c) Tropicana
d) Paper Boat
e) Mapro

Q.7) How important is company brand while purchasing fruit based product?

Not important Neutral Important

1 2 3 4 5

Q.8) How important is product quality while purchasing fruit based product?

Not important Neutral Important

1 2 3 4 5

Q.9) How important is product price while purchasing fruit based product?

Not important Neutral Important

1 2 3 4 5

Q.10) How important is nutritional content while purchasing fruit based product?

Not important Neutral Important

1 2 3 4 5

33
5.2 Bibliography

 http://www.mapro.com/
 https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/cover-story/small-brands-in-india-mapro-
foods/story/184742.html
 https://www.business-standard.com/article/management/mapro-spreads-the-jam-
116032700670_1.html
 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/company/mapro-foods-private-limited-
/U15110MH1990PTC054865
 https://www.ibef.org/

34
35