Research Methodology

Assignment On
A STUDY ON NESTLE PRODUCT MAGGI
Submitted to: Dr Nishant Kumar
Amity University
Uttar Pradesh

In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree

of
Bachelor of Business Administration
by
Shubh Taneja
Section-A
Roll No- 31
A3906418274

DEPARTMENT OF AMITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

AMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH
 INTRODUCTION

The industrial revolution in Switzerland in the late 1800s created factory jobs for women, who were therefore
left with very little time to prepare meals. This wide spread problem grew to be an object of intense study by
the Swiss Public Welfare Society. As a part of its activities, the Society asked Julius Maggi miller to create a
vegetable food product that would be quick to prepare and easy to digest. Born on October 9, 1846 in
Frauenfeld, Switzerland, Julius Michael Johannes Maggi was the oldest son of an immigrant from Italy who
took Swiss citizenship. Julius Maggi became a miller and took on the reputation as an inventive and capable
businessman. In 1863, Julius Maggi came up with a formula to bring added taste to meals. Soon after he was
commissioned by the Swiss Public Welfare Society, he came up with two instant pea soups and a bean soup -
the first launch of the Maggi brand of instant foods in 1882 - 83. Towards the end of the century, Maggi &
Company was producing not just powdered soups, but bouillon cubes, sauces and other flavourings. The
Maggi Company merged with Nestlé in 1947. Today, Maggi is a leading culinary brand and part of the
NESTLÉ family of fine foods and beverages. Under the Maggi brand, which is today known worldwide for
quality and innovation, Nestle offers a whole range of products, such as packaged soups, frozen meals,
prepared sauces and flavourings.

Maggi Comes to India – teething troubles Maggi noodles was launched in India in the early1980s. Carlo M.
Donati, the present Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India Ltd, brought the instant noodle brand to
India during his short stint here in the early eighties. At that time, there was no direct competition. The first
competition came from the ready-to-eat snack segment which included snacks like samosas, biscuits or maybe
peanuts, that were usually ‘the bought out’ type. The second competition came from the homemade snacks
like paratha or sandwiches. So there were no specific buy and make snack! Moreover both competitors had
certain drawbacks in comparison. Snacks like samosas are usually bought out, and outside food is generally
considered unhygienic and unhealthy. The other competitor, ‘homemade’ snacks overcame both these
problems but had the disadvantage of extended preparation time at home. Maggi was positioned as the only
hygienic homemade snack! Despite this, Nestlé faced difficulties with their sales after the initial phase. The
reason being, the positioning of the product with the wrong target group. Nestle had positioned Maggi as a
convenience food product aimed at the target group of working women who hardly found any time for
cooking. Unfortunately this could not hold the product for very long. In the course of many market researches
and surveys, the firm found that children were the biggest consumers of Maggi noodles. Quickly they
repositioned it towards the kids segment with various tools of sales promotion like colour pencils, sketch pens,
fun books, Maggi clubs which worked wonders for the brand.
 LITERATURE REVIEW

Rajani Kambhoj (2012) The case examines a detailed account of Nestlé's promotion and advertising strategies
for creating a noodles market from scratch. This case looks at the various phases in the product life cycle of
Maggi noodles in India. It talks about the various measures taken by NIL to keep the Maggi brand fresh in the
minds of the Indian consumers and reposition Maggi as a Health product'.

Dr.Mustiary Begum(2016) paper has highlighted issues related to Maggi and how consumer have changed
their perception regarding Maggi after post ban. Researchers have taken 93 respondents and have done
analysis with the help of simple analytical tool like graph and tabular form. The study shows those consumers
are ready to buy Maggi after it relaunch in the market provided that they include healthy ingredient. However
researcher has not mention about the profile of the respondent like gender, age, and preference which has
greater impact on decision making secondly the area of study is not covered by researcher which contribute
towards decision making of noodle the test and preference differ in different state hence the present study has
tried to cover maximum possible factor which affect behavior of consumer.

SHABISTA BOOSHAN (sept 2016) .Paper has highlighted impact of Maggi noodle on the psyche of the
Indian consumers. The sampling technique used is Stratification followed by SRSWoR. The researcher has
divided entire population of India into strata, according to the target audience groups of Maggi Noodles. Then
the stratum that holds people falling in the age group of 18 – 24 years from middle class families was selected.
After this the sampling method of SRSWoR was applied in the stratum, where the survey questionnaire was
randomly sent out the consumers scattered all over India. The conclusion is based on the data collected
immediately after 5 months of Maggi relaunch. According to researcher 75% of the population were ready to
accept Maggi after its comeback .However, the study has taken sample size restricted to age group of 18-24
years. The decision taken is based on this selected age group which may not give proper outcome as children
below 18 years consumed magi at large. Secondly the period selected i.e. 5 month was too early to give any
decision on relaunch of Maggi. Thus the present study has tried to cover all age group and quiet long period so
that decision derived has impact to some extent

Ayushi Jain (2016) the author has taken comparative study of Maggi and Patanjali aata noodle. The said paper
has highlighted growth of patanajali noodle due to Maggi ban. The sample size was 100 respondents and
restricted to Delhi region. Research shows that consumer has accepted Maggi whole heartedly after its ban
and also stated that Patanjali is most favored due to its price.

Dr. Ramesh Sardar(July 2015) .the study is based on comparative analysis of Maggi at international market
and Indian market. Study is based on secondary data which highlighted the preferences of Maggi at
international market as compare to Indian market.

Dr.GOMATHI.D (Jan 2016) The said study has taken overview of the status of Maggi before and after ban in
the market. Paper has highlighted scenario of Maggi in general .however the specific period and the
preferences of consumer is out of the scope of this study.
Neha Garg(July 2015) Author has taken secondary source for the said study. Research paper examine the root
cause of the Maggi row. However the paper is based on secondary data hence consumer preferences are out of
the scope of the study. Consumer behavior is the main criteria to study the impact of Maggi in India after its
ban.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research problem: According to article stated in news paper “Regaining customer confidence isn’t easy once
consumers have a negative perception of a brand”, Is true for Maggi brand. Crisis management requires more
efforts to regain its value. The study analyses how consumer behavior changed towards Maggi in terms of
Attitudes, preferences, intentions, and decisions .

Objective of Study: 1. To study consumer behavior irrespective of age, gender and category towards Maggi
Noodles.

2. To study the impact of ban on consumer towards buying decision of Maggi.

3. To study the growth of substitute due to ban on Maggi.

4. To analyse the opinion of consumer regarding Maggi after it hit the market again.

Primary data:

Sample Size: 20 respondents of all age group and gender

Sampling Technique: Convenience Sampling

Instruments used: Structured Questionnaire

Research Methodology: Survey method.

Secondary data:

SecondaryData will be collected from journals, reports on Maggi product, books, internet and other relevant
information for the said study.
Significance of the study:

In the past, Maggi was popular food amongst all age group of consumer. The sales of Maggi Noodles had
sharply increased over the years; however the ban on maggi has greater impact on consumer as well as
company and other stake holders. The study examines the change in sales and consumption pattern over the
years, the study is helpful to other small scale company and food to analyze and to understand the issue related
to such a big company. The study is guide for further research in the field of FMCG. It will also serve as guide
to overcome with the problem of brand image and how rebuild brand image

Analysis and Interpretation

Objective: To study consumer behavior irrespective of age, gender towards Maggi

Consumer behavior consist of those factor which affect test, preferences, likes and dislikes and decision of
consumption .Age and gender plays important role for consumption pattern. Test and preferences differ as per
the age. the main purpose is to see the consumption pattern of consumer at different age category and with
gender

Q.1 what comes first in your mind when you hear the word Maggi?
 Noodles
 Fast food
 Snacks
 None of these

Analysis: The survey suggested that 14 out of 20 consumers associated magi with noodles. 3 for
snacks and masala each. People are familiar with magi as a brand for noodles in majority .

Q.2 what is the brand that comes to your mind when we say the word noodles?
 Maggi
 Top Ramen
 Surya Noodles
 Anil Noodles

Analysis: The survey suggested that Maggi is the most popular brand with the customers of
noodles . It suggests that 18 out of 20 consumers associates noodles with magi.

Q.3 Rank the following Maggi products w.r.t. frequency of purchase with 1 being the highest
rank RANK

 Noodles
 Ketchup
 Soup
 Pickles
 Cubes
Analysis: Most of the consumers have ranked noodles as 1. People purchase Maggi noodles in
majority . The frequency of purchase of magi noodles is very high.

Q.4 With what products would you associate the brand Maggi?
 Ketchup
 Noodles
 Soup
 Masala

Analysis: The survey suggested that 12 out of 20 people associated the brand magi with noodles
.6 customers associated with masala. 2 consumers associate the brand with soup and 1 with
ketchup .

Q.5 On a scale of 1 to 5 rate Maggi on the following parameters

 Taste
 Variety/Flavours
 Hygiene/Purity
 Availability
 Packaging (SKUs)

Analysis: The product of Maggi have been rated well above parameters by most of the
customers.

Q.6 Rank the categories which Maggi should look in future in order of your importance
:
 Chocolates
 Salted Potato Chips
 Fruit Juices
 Processed foods(Ready to use pastes, masala)
 Others ( Please mention)
Analysis: According to the survey ,magi should look for salted potato chips in future as it is
highly demanded by the people in market.

Q-7 How do you rate Maggi brand in terms of following parameters:

 Expertise (Competent, Innovative, Market leader)

 Trustworthiness (Dependable and keep customers interest in mind)
 Liability ( Fun ,interesting)
 None of these

Analysis: According to survey , Maggi brand is using expertise strategy to look forward in
future .

Q- 8 How do you perceive Maggi products?

 Good for health.

 Ready to eat.
 Junk food
 Tasty / Fun eating

Analysis: The survey suggest that most of the consumers perceive magi product as being good
for health .

Q- 9 Which Maggi products in noodles category do you regularly buy?

(Repositioning awareness)
 Maggi masala
 Maggi vegetable attar noodles
 Maggi dal Atta noodles
 Maggi rice noodles mania
 Others
 Analysis: The survey suggest that most of the consumers regularly buy magi
vegetables Atta noodles while few of them preferred magi masala noodles.

Q-10 Do you perceive Maggi noodles as a healthy product?

 Yes
 No

Analysis: According to survey Maggie is perceived as a healthy product for most of

the consumers.

CONCLUSION

The food processing business in India is at a nascent stage. Currently, only about
10% of the output is processed and consumed in packaged form thus highlighting
huge potential for expansion and growth. Traditionally, Indians believe in
consuming fresh stuff rather than packaged or frozen, but the trend is changing and
the new fast food generation is slowly changing.
Riding on the success of noodles, Nestle India, tried to make extensions of the
Maggi brand to a number of products like, sauces, ketchups, pickles, soups,
tastemakers and macaroni in the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, the macaroni and
pickles didn’t pick up as expected. The soups and sauces did somewhat fine,
gathering considerable sales volumes and have a satisfactory presence even today.
‘Maggi Noodles’ itself faced a bit of difficulty with respect to ‘taste’, and nearly lost
its position in the minds of Indian consumers in the late 1990s. When Nestle
changed the formulation of its tastemaker, the ominous packet that came along with
Maggi Noodles, a major chunk of consumers were put-off and sales started
dropping. Also, Maggi’s competitor ‘TopRamen’ took advantage of the situation
and started a parallel aggressive campaign to eat into Maggi’s market share. But the
company quickly realised this and went back into making the original formula
coupled with a free sampling campaign. This helped Maggi to win back its lost
consumers and pushed up its sales volumes again!
Maggi Today The year 2008 saw India leading in worldwide Maggi sales. The brand
has grown to an estimated value of Rs 160-170 crore and contributes at least 8–9%
to Nestle India’s top line. All the same, some FMCG analysts feel that the brand has
not done much to expand the noodles category. Even after 25 years of its launch, the
size of the instant noodles market is yet quite small at Rs 300 crore. But yes, the
parent company, Nestle India Limited has certainly encouraged the brand to enter
into other culinary products.
 RECOMMENDATION

After the conducted study following recommendations could be sited for Maggi
Brand.
To gain maximum leverage in terms of profit the company should pay emphasis
on segments with age groups 25-35 and above .Advertising is the key to success.
Targeting these segments will not only enhance the company’s profit margins but
also it will leverage the brand image of Maggi.

- he company should advertise its products by depicting attributes related to

Health like Nutrition values, % of Vitamins, Proteins etc.This would help in
customers perceiving the product as Healthy.
- Foray into other food products like chips, chocolates etc under its sole brand
name would not only help in Brand extension but will also enhance Maggi’s
market share.

FUTURE PLANS
- Nestlé India’s objective is to manufacture and market the company’s products in
such a way so as to create value that can be sustained over the long term for
consumers, shareholders, employees and business partners.
- Maggi’s aims to create value for consumers that can be sustained over the long
term by offering a wide variety of high quality, safe food products at affordable
prices.
- The company continuously focuses its efforts to better understand the changing
lifestyles of modern India and anticipate consumer needs in order to provide
convenience, taste, nutrition and wellness through its product offerings.