Apr 8, 2017
Will ice creams win, or frozen desserts?
Two giant brands get into a slugfest over the goodness of ice creams and frozen desserts, reports Sohini Das.
IMAGE: Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta (left) and actress June Malia ahead of an ice cream eating competition in Kolkata. Photograph: Sucheta Das/Reuters.
Temperatures are soaring this summer in the ice creams versus frozen desserts battle between the country’s two behemoths: Dairy major Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation that markets the Amul brand of ice creams and FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Limited, which owns the Kwality Walls brand.
The two have sparred earlier too but, this time, the stakes are bigger given that both are fighting not just for a bigger slice of the summer pie, but are also battling customer perceptions about health and nutrition.
HUL has moved Bombay high court against Amul over a recent commercial that urges consumers to use their discretion when buying their favourite dessert.
The ad, which features a little girl visiting a dentist, ends with a voiceover that asks customers to go for real milk-based ice creams from Amul and not vegetable oil-based frozen desserts.
It asks the consumer to check the pack for the word ice cream.
Amul has chosen this narrative, as according to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, there is a technical difference between ice creams and frozen desserts.
Ice creams that are made with vegetable oil have to be labelled ‘frozen desserts’, while only those that are made with milk fat can be legally called ‘ice cream’.
Amul has chosen to hype its brand strength in the ad, say experts, who see nothing wrong in that.
According to Ambi Parameswaran, founder of Brand-Building.com, “Amul has always positioned its ice creams as ‘real milk real ice creams’ and now, in this ad, it is highlighting its strength.”
This is not the first time that Amul and HUL have taken each other on; in 2012, Amul had insisted that HUL strike the word ice cream off its ads since they were misleading the consumer about the true nature of the product.
Amul had complained to Advertising Standard Council of India. Consequently, ASCI had asked HUL to replace ‘ice cream’ with ‘frozen dessert’. HUL had given in to the order at the time.
What has got HUL hot under the collar this time?
Sources indicate that the company has objected to the use of the term ‘vanaspati tel’ in the Hindi advertisement, which makes the product look unappealing.
An HUL spokesperson said, “Amul has been airing a misleading television commercial since March 2017. This advertisement makes factually incorrect statements creating apprehensions among consumers of frozen desserts. It makes incorrect claims about the usage of ‘vanaspati/vanaspati tel’ in frozen dessert. We wish to clarify that Kwality Walls range of ‘frozen desserts’ does not contain vanaspati.”
The company makes it clear that they use milk/milk solids like ice creams and the only difference is that frozen desserts use vegetable fat instead of dairy fat.
“This actually makes them healthier as they have lower saturated fat and do not have cholesterol,” the spokesperson adds.
R S Sodhi, managing director, GCMMF, says that HUL can go ahead and promote the goodness of its products.
He however notes that vegetable oils are much cheaper than milk fat. “Vegetable fat costs around ₹60 per kg, while milk fat is around ₹300 per kg. Even then, prices of HUL’s frozen desserts are higher than Amul’s by 10-20 per cent.”
Given that the fight is over the ₹7,500-odd ice creams plus frozen desserts market in India, which is roughly growing at 10-12 per cent annually, the aggression on display is hardly surprising.
Tempers are even more frayed since both brands have had to face the brunt of challenger brands that have emerged as significant players in regional pockets.
Ahmedabad-based Havmor Ice Creams, which categorises itself as a mass premium ice cream and prices its fare a tad higher than Amul, is the market leader in Gujarat, with close to 40 per cent share in the state, followed by the number two position in Rajasthan.
In the South, Arun Ice Creams is a strong and established player taking on both big brands.
Euromonitor, which tracks data on only the ice cream market, said that, between 2017 and 2021, it is likely to grow at 10.3 per cent.
While Amul is the market leader with a pan India presence in the space, according to Euromonitor, it has a 17 per cent value share in the ice creams plus frozen desserts market.
Clearly there is enough room for growth but, given the proliferation of small brands and the growing customer preference for local labels, it is becoming imperative that brands put up a strong fight for their turfs.
However, at the end of it, Parameswaran says, “These battles cannot be won in courts. Ultimately the brand wins or loses the battle. The consumer would decide the victor.”
UP has more than half of approved abattoirs in India: govt
"As per the information available in the Food Licensing and Registration System (FLRS) of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the total number of slaughter houses (mechanised or non-mechanised) for which license or registration have been issued under Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 is 1,707," Kulaste said
New Delhi, Apr 7 Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP government is clamping down on "illegal" slaughterhouses, accounts for more than half of the approved abattoirs and meat processing plants in the country, the Centre today said.
Minister of State for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste in a written reply in Lok Sabha said licenses have been issued to around 1,700 slaughterhouses by the country's food regulator FSSAI.
According to figures given by Kulaste, Uttar Pradesh has 42 out of the total 76 approved abattoirs-cum-meat processing plants or standalone abattoirs.
Maharashtra is second with 13 abattoirs while Punjab and Andhra Pradesh had five approved abattoirs each.
"As per the information available in the Food Licensing and Registration System (FLRS) of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the total number of slaughter houses (mechanised or non-mechanised) for which license or registration have been issued under Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 is 1,707," Kulaste said.
He said the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) registers integrated abattoir-cum-meat processing plants or standalone abattoirs engaged in export.
Asked whether any domestic need assessment was done before such licenses were granted, he said, "No such assessments are carried out before grant of licences".
"In terms of section 31 of the FSS Act 2006, all food business operators have to obtain license or registration for commencing any business," he added.
After coming to power, new UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered the closure of illegal slaughterhouses and strict enforcement of the ban on cow smuggling to fulfil a key electoral promise of the BJP, which led to their closure.
This has reportedly created scarcity of meat in the state leading to the shutting down of many meat shops, according to reports.
UP has most approved abattoirs in India
NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP government is clamping down on "illegal" slaughter houses, accounts for more than half of the approved abattoirs-cum-meat processing plants in the country, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.
In a written reply, minister of state for health Faggan Singh Kulaste said UP has 42 of the total 76 approved abattoirscum-meat processing plants or standalone abattoirs.
Next to UP is Maharashtra with 13 abattoirs while Punjab and Andhra Pradesh have five approved abattoirs each. "As per information available in the Food Licensing and Registration System of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India, the total number of slaughter houses (mechanised or nonmechanised) for which licence or registration have been issued under Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 is 1,707," Kulaste said.
He said the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority registers integrated abattoircum-meat processing plants or standalone abattoirs engaged in exports.
Asked whether any domestic need assessment was done before such licences were granted, he said, "No such assessments are carried out before grant of licences."
500kg of artificially ripened fruit destroyed
VADODARA: Teams of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) health department continued their crackdown upon artificially ripened mangoes for the second consecutive dayon Friday. Food safetyofficers of the civic body destroyed over 500kg of mangoes during the drive.
In wake of mangoes arriving on a large scale in the market, the VMC was instructed by the state government to take action on any means taken to ripen them artificially. The civic body began the drive following the instructions and on Thursday destroyed over 250kg mangoes in the Khanderao Market that has a large number of wholesale dealers and godowns.
But the action on Thursday did not seem to have much impact on the traders and the civic body cracked down on them again on Friday. This time 24 storage facilities were checked by the food safety officers.
VMC officials said that rampant use of ethylene for ripening mangoes came to light during the drive. Officials seized 560kg of mangoes that were ripened using the chemical. The mangoes were taken to the Jambuva landfill site and destroyed there. The civic body has warned the traders in the market against using chemicals to ripen mangoes.
Accused of selling stale apple concentrate JKHPMC, says its product confirmed safe
SRINAGAR: After being accused of selling expired apple concentrate in the state assembly by a ruling PDP minister, the Department of Horticulture Friday said that its apple juice concentrate conforms to the set food safety norms.
In government handout the department spokesperson has said that the separate analytical reports received from the Food Analyst Kashmir and NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Accreditation of Laboratories) accredited AVON Food Lab Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, the samples of the apple juice concentrate lifted from JKHPMC Juice Plant at Doabgah, Sopore February last have been found conforming to the Food Safety and Standards Regulation 2011.
In January PDP legislator and Education minister Altaf Bukhari in State Assembly blamed the government for ‘selling poison’ instead of apple concentrate produced at this plant accusing that juice processed three years back is being supplied to the market,maintain that its shelf life being 18 months.
It prompted the Deputy Speaker Nazir Gurezi asked the government to present a report in the House regarding the issue.
The spokesman added that the samples were sent for testing on the directions of the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti after a legislator raised the issue in the Assembly during the Budget session 2017. He added that JKHPMC’s 10,000 MT capacity Apple Juice Concentrate Plant at Doabgah, Sopore has been upgraded and modernized with state-of-the art machinery turning it from manual mode to fully automatic.
Ways of capturing consumer attention
The onset of summer and rising mercury levels will soon lead to a huge demand for ice-creams and frozen desserts across India. This implies a huge sales opportunity for these companies in India. However, with HUL filing a case against Amul, an interesting twist has been added to the tale. The point of contention is a media campaign launched by Amul to educate customers on the difference between ice-creams and frozen desserts – the key difference being that the former uses dairy fat while the latter uses vegetable oil.
However, the basis of the legal tussle and concern shown by HUL to Amul's media campaign is unwarranted due to the following reasons:
First, the TV commercial and print advertisement recently launched by Amul is just an act of creating awareness regarding the fundamental difference between ice-creams and frozen desserts. The whole idea is to allow the consumer make a conscious choice while trying to soothe their taste-buds and beat the summer.
There are just a few who really understand or appreciate this difference while making a purchase despite the labelling as per Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) guidelines. In such a scenario, communicating the facts or creating awareness about the ingredients of the product offerings always builds trust and transparency with the customer and should be encouraged by all companies.
Secondly, HUL's apprehension regarding negative publicity and impact on its sales is unfounded – the reason being that the campaign does not say that other companies are making a false representation on their product labelling. It is simply highlighting the difference between ice-cream and frozen dessert as per the technical definition by FSSAI. As of now, a majority of the consumers in India buy ice-creams or frozen desserts sold by ice-cream carts and shops on the assumption that they are buying ice-creams.
Thirdly, the ice-cream and frozen dessert industry has been growing in India at an average of 15-17 per cent. The growing demand potential is also evident from the entry of local and multinational players like Naturals, Havmore, Fresh and Naturelle, Cocoberry, Hagen-Dazs and the like. Both Amul and HUL carry a strong brand appeal of quality product offerings in this industry and maintain strong market shares in India. So, it is unlikely that consumers who like HUL's frozen desserts and ice-creams will make a shift to Amul or other ice-cream brands.
The companies must realise that the rules of the game are changing with their trying innovative ways of capturing consumer attention in a competitive landscape. The companies can deliberate on the following questions to decide upon the winning combination: What kind of product offerings in a specific industry provides more value to the target segment?
What kind of engagement models can be designed to bring together the marginalised people from the poor communities as suppliers, employees, or micro-entrepreneurs across the value chain? How can the companies redefine their business model to target the rural markets for their offerings? These are the kind of questions that will define the future of every industry in India. The sooner companies realise this reality, the better will be their chances of survival.
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