American food maker HJ Heinz Co is planning to focus on the company’s core brands in the near future. The company says that it will acquire local food companies, as well as reposition its flagship brand Complan in an attempt to improve its business in the country.
Seema Modi, the Heinz India MD said, “In an environment like this, we needed to focus on few core brands instead of having many smaller brands. This also helps us to achieve the mandate of having a profitable growth in the country”. Modi went on to say that they have been in talks with local food companies about the company’s plan to acquire them.
Modi also stated that this is similar to their global strategy, where they buy local firms instead of bringing global brands, which might not suit the market in the end. The company – as part of its decision to reposition Complan as a family health food amidst increasing competition and decreasing sales growth – hired a celebrity endorser for the first time, Viswanathan Anand, the chess Grandmaster.
Complan accounts for more than half of the company’s Rs. 1,400-crore revenues and is looking to decrease the difference with the category leader – GlaxoSmithKline’s Horlicks – which controls almost half of the market. The business of Heinz grew 7.9% in a year which ended in March 2013, with sales of Rs. 1,366.3 crore. The company has also increased the market share of Complan and Glucon D by 100 basis points.
Photo Credits: Eldecogroup
