“ Understanding Nutritional Beverages in Delhi/ NCR Markets ”

A Consumer Perspective Presented By: Rishabh Hingar

09BS0001902

Background

What are Nutritional Beverages? Nutritional Beverages refer to malt based drinks which are made from oak/barley/wheat. They represent health drinks ( non carbonated ) and are served as additional source of nutrition

(supplements).

Major Players in the Industry

Glaxo Smithkline – Horlicks, Boost, Maltova, Viva

Cadbury - Bournvita

Nestle - Milo

Heinz India – Complan

Consumers

Children (majorly)

Mothers

Elder People

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Research Objectives

To study consumer habits, preferences, attitudes, taste with respect to nutritional beverages.

Effect of 4 Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotions) of Nutritional Beverages on Consumers.

Ascertain Consumer Knowledge level about Nutritional beverages

Role of Nutritional Beverages in the lives of consumers

Perception of different brands among Consumers, Medical Store Personnel.

Pilot Survey

Main Survey

Final Analysis

The Survey was conducted in two phases

Pilot Survey (Sample Space: 90) Main Survey (Sample Space: 90)

Methodology

Face to Face interviews using a structured questionnaire.

Target Respondents

Mothers (30) Children (30) Medical Store Personnel (30) Region Covered : Delhi / NCR

Horlicks, Bournvita, Boost & Complan are popular brands. Amongst them, Horlicks & Bournvita are extremely popular & are preferred consumer brands Horlicks is clearly a market leader with a market share of over 45%.

Although, Nutritional beverages have been positioned as a health drink, but majorly consumers use it as a “ milk taste enhancer ”.

Consumers awareness level stands at 43%.

Chocolate is a predominant flavor as more than 90% consumers prefer it.

Proteinex and Pediasure is a preferred brand among health experts and medical store personnel.

Consumers are by and large satisfied with nutritional beverages .The major reason for switchingbrand is “ need for a change ”: Just to try a new brand because of the monotony of existing taste.

Advertisements are seen as a major purchase trigger.

At the time of sickness of a child, the consumption of nutritional beverage does not increase. It remains the same as before the sickness.

Summary

Findings of the research

Top of the mind Spontaneous Aided0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Others

Boost

Complan

Bournvita

Horlicks

Clearly, Horlicks is the most popular brand as more than 45%consumers say “horlicks” on spont association. Second to it is Bournvita with over 30% spont reaction.

Brand Awareness

Respondents considered: Mothers & Medical Store Personnel No. of Respondents: 120

Horlicks is among the most preferred brand among consumers.

MAIN SURVEY

Yes33%

No67%

Chart Title

PILOT SURVEY

Consumer awareness level stands at 43% .At the time of pilot survey the awareness level stood at 53%,which drastically reduced to 33% during the main survey.

COMBINED SURVEY

Consumer awareness level

Yes43%

No57%

Chart Title

Yes53%

No47%

Chart Title

Consumer Awareness Level stands at 43%.

Respondents considered: Mothers & Medical Store PersonnelNo. of respondents: 120

Change in the Intake of nutritional beverages at the time of sickness

5%

95%

Increases

It remains as it is

COMBINED SURVEY

Majority is in favor of keeping the intake of nutritional beverages constant at the time of sickness.

The combined results of the surveys show that 95% respondents do not believe in increasing the intake of nutritional beverage at the time of sickness.

Respondents considered: Only MothersNo. of respondents: 60

59%

41%

ContinuingNot Continuing

Respondents considered: Only MothersNo. of respondents: 60

The pie chart shows the percentage of people who prefer to continue/ discontinue the same brand in a short span of time ( 6 months ).

Brand Usage

Brand Loyalty is not very high. Consumers do not hesitate in trying out different brands.

Reasons for Switching

Reason for Switching

3

16

5

1

Taste in not good Just for a ChangeInfluenced by TV commercials Not satifisfied with the brand

Respondents considered: Only MothersNo. of respondents: 25

There is no genuine reason for changing a brand. Consumers prefer a change just to break the monotony of the existing brand. The intention is to seek a change in taste or brand or simply experimentation.

Consumers try a new brand to break away monotony of the existing taste.

Dominant Flavor

85%

8%

8%

Chocolate

Vanilla

Others

Chocolate is the most preferred flavor among kids.

Respondents considered: All RespondentsNo. of respondents: 180

80%

20%

Pediasure & Proteinex Others

Clearly, Pediasure and Proteinex are favourites among Medical Store Personnel. They are of the opinion that these drinks offer good nutritional value to the consumers in particular kids as Protein is a vital supplement for growth.

Brand Preference

Pediasure and Proteinex tend to rule the prefernces of medical store personnel in Delhi /NCR

Respondents considered: Only Medical store personnelNo. of respondents: 60

Brand Verbatims Slogan

Complan Height Gain (30%)Complete Nutrition

The child grows twice as fast

Bournvita Great Taste (80%)Strong Bones

Mental & Physical Development

Pediasure Weight Gain For kids between 2 to 8 years old

Horlicks Great Taste (80%)For all Ages

The great Family nourisher

Boost High energy levels(40%)Sachin Tendulkar/Kapil Dev

Boost is the secret of my energy

Proteinex Good for child’s growth Perceived strongly as a safe protein supplement

Respondents considered: Only Mothers No. of respondents: All those who are aware of the brand

Brand Association

Nutritional Beverages - Associations

Nutritional Beverages

“kids are averse to drinking

plain milk”

“helps in gaining height”(15%)

“they are fun

drink”

“given kids picky eating habits, the only way to make them

drink milk is through nutritional beverages”

There are several associations to nutritional beverages, but majorly consumers take it for granted as a “milk taste enhancer”.

“good health”

“milk taste enhancer”

“good for overal development of child”

“excellent taste”(80%)

Conclusion Effect of 4Ps on Consumers Price: the price range of various nutritional

beverages are almost same. So, it is difficult to differentiate products on the basis of prices.

Promotion: This is the most important factor for differentiating products. Survey has shown that brand positioning and adverstisemnets is a crucial purchase trigger and has strong impact on consumer psychie.

Product: The attributes associated with products differentiate it with others brands.For instance, Boost is seen as a “energy booster” /”sporty” product, while horlicks is seen as a “family nourisher”, available for all ages.

Taste and Preferance

Role of Nutritional Beverages in the lives of consumers

Ascertain Consumer Knowledge level about Nutritional beverages

Perception of different brands among Consumers, Health Experts, Medical Store Personnel

Most preferred flavor among consumers is chocolate. Although nutritional beverages are positioned as a health drink but people in general perceive it as “ milk taste enhancer ” and lay more stress on the taste aspect of these drinks. (many companies are now moving away from the traditional image of ‘health drinks’ and are repositioning as a ‘fun drink’. For instance, Glucon D, Horlicks )The consumer awareness level stands at around 43%.Most of the medical store personnel prefer ‘ proteinex and pediasure ’. Complan is a preferred consumer choice for kids with “ height gaining ” issue.Horlciks and bournvita are extremely popular for their good taste.

Suggestions

Certain respondents have expressed concern over “ Complan ” taste particularly the strawberry flavor. They do not like its taste. In many cases, it has become a reason for the consumers to switch to other brands as kids are not really fond of it.

Many respondents feel cheated with respect to packaging. The package is huge and looks very catchy to the eyes ( 1 kg pack for brands like Horlicks, Complan ). But in actual the quantity inside the pack is a source of disappointment among consumers. The visual pack appears to contain much more than what in actual it has.

Complan brand promises a lot of benefits to its consumers particularly “ height gain ”. Its ads promise “the child grows twice as fast”. Though, all the existing brands promise certain benefits to the consumers, but they are not visible to the naked eyes ( intangible benefits ). Like Bournvita focuses on mental and physical development, boost is positioned as an “ energy booster ”. But complan by openly promising “height gain” among kids, has raised lot of expectations among consumers as height is an important attribute. Although Heinz India claims that it is a scientifically proven fact that complain aids in height growth and have also done lot of sample tests and shown positive results. But most of the health experts completely disagree over the issue .When brands fail to live up to the expectations of consumers, it creates disappointment among them and they stop trusting the brand. So, companies should prefer not to create unnecessary hype about their products.