PLADIS GLOBAL

(McVitie’s)

Live Project
FIELD SALES – MODERN TRADE
Submitted By:

Vishal Marhatta

(PRN No: 20020241107)

MBA-IB (Marketing), Batch 2020-22

Symbiosis Institute of International

Business

Under the guidance of

Name of the Project Guide: Mr. Harikant Shukla (ASM, McVitie’s)

Name of the Faculty mentor: Prof. Shubhasheesh Bhattacharya

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Acknowledgement

I would like to express my gratitude to the Director Dr. Asmita Chitnis and Dy. Director
Prof. Prakash Rao for providing me this opportunity to utilize my skills and knowledge
straight to the company, which was challenging and interesting at the same time. I
would also like to convey my sincere thanks to my faculty mentor Shubhasheesh
Bhattacharya Sir for constantly guiding me throughout and was always available to help
me out whenever I needed.

I would like to express my heartfelt acknowledgment to Pladis Global’s HR team and my

project guide Mr. Harikant Shukla (ASE, Delhi) for guiding me on the objectives and
expected outcomes of the project. His valuable guidance was instrumental in the
completion of the project. Also, the employees of the supermarket where I was posted
with whom I interacted always welcomed me for any type of questions, and very gently
shared their experience in Modern Trade.

And last but not the least; I thank all my friends who directly or indirectly helped me in
this project. It’s indeed my pleasure to be a part of India’s leading biscuit manufacturing
Company and I hope that I can build upon the experience and knowledge I have gained
to make a valuable contribution in coming future.

Varinder Pal Singh 06th December, 2021 Page 2

Executive Summary
The aim of the project was to drive sales value for the brand McVitie’s Digestive biscuits
in the supermarkets and also enhancing the shopper engagement in the modern retail
store. Re-imagining shopper involvement and engagement guarantees a meaningful
consumer experience in the digital revolution of company. There isn't much more vital
to a company's success than delivering a great client experience. Following this trend,
many FMCG companies are working and practicing shopper engagement activities
especially in modern retail outlets like supermarkets and hypermarkets. Pladis Global
aka United Biscuits, thus also planned a project on the same.

The project started on 9th of August, 2021. During the tenure of 2 weeks of offline live
project, the job was to manage and enhance the sales of Reliance Mall in Vikaspuri Delhi
and increase the market share of the company along with enhancing the category
penetration of the Mcvitie’s Digestive biscuits and other SKU’s (1 kg, 400gm, 200 gm).
The job was also to promote up-selling, cross-selling & range-selling of the other SKU’s
like Mcvitie’s Oat Cookies, Mcvitie’s Wholewheat Marie, Mcvitie’s Dark Cookie Cream,
Mcvitie’s Butter Cookies, Mcvitie’s Bourbon and many more. That period of August had
two important occasions of Independence Day, on 15th August and Raksha Bandhan, on
23rd August, so the focus was to increase the sales of a particular Stock Keeping Unit
(SKU’s). Although the store had other SKUs of Mcvitie’s biscuits as well and the
information related to all SKUs and their USP was explained at the start of the project
like Mcvitie’s Oat Cookies, Mcvitie’s Wholewheat Marie, Mcvitie’s Dark Cookie Cream,
Mcvitie’s Butter Cookies, Mcvitie’s Bourbon and many more. Merchandizing to ensure
product visibility in the aisles & competition benchmarking by understanding various
schemes, discounts and margins offered by the competitors were also some of the
deliverables of the live project.

During the offline live project, there were a lot of new things and marketing concepts
were known like merchandising, facing of the products on the shelf, consumer insights,
visibility of the products, cross selling, margins on the products, customer engagement
etc.

Varinder Pal Singh 06th December, 2021 Page 3

Organization Profile
Pladis is one of the world's leading snacking companies. United Biscuits, Ü lker, Godiva
Chocolatier, and DeMet's Candy Company are all part of Pladis Global's confectionery
and snack foods division. It was established in January 2016 as a subsidiary of Yldz
Holding and is based in London, England. The corporation has 34 facilities in 13
countries, and its goods are sold in 120 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, Asia, and the Americas, reaching over 4 billion people.

Godiva Chocolates was acquired by Yildiz Holding in 2008. In 2014, Yildiz acquired
DeMet's Candy Company for $221 million, which includes the US wholesale brand Flipz
and Turtles. That same year, Yildiz acquired United Biscuits, the parent company of
McVitie's, making it the third largest cookie company in the world. Pladis also owns Go
Ahead, Koninklijke Verkade which includes brands such as Verkade and Sultana, and
Biskrem. Ü lker Biscuits: Turkish food and beverage brand with a presence in 80
countries. Ü lker manufacturers of food products including biscuits and confectionery.
DeMet’s Candy Company, which includes Flipz and Turtles.

Godiva is a luxury chocolate and associated product producer that was created in
Belgium in 1926. Pladis offers Godiva in grocery stores. Pladis introduced Godiva
Masterpieces in May 2017 at the Sweet & Snacks Expo in Chicago, which featured the
top three sales case pieces from Godiva stores as individually wrapped candies. Costco
was the first retailer to carry the range. Pladis declared at the same time that it will
release a consistent Godiva chocolate formulation based on the original Belgian recipe
produced in 1926. In September 2017, pladis announced the debut of the Godiva
Masterpieces range in the United Kingdom, as well as a relationship with Sainsbury's.
Pladis sold the Masterpieces range in supermarkets in the United Kingdom, North
America, China, Turkey, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia, among other nations.

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McVitie's, a prominent snack food brand in the UK and Europe as well as a top 5 UK food
brand, is part of United Biscuits. United Biscuits introduced McVitie's Digestive Nibbles
in February 2016, a bite-sized version of classic biscuits. McVities introduced a range of
thinner chocolate digestives in January 2017 as a healthier alternative to regular
biscuits. McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets are all produced by
United Biscuits (UB), a British international food company. The firm was previously a
component of the FTSE 100 Index and was listed on the London Stock Exchange. The
firm was bought by Yldz Holding in November 2014 and is now part of Pladis. In May
2017, pladis announced that McVitie's biscuits would be available in the United States in
2018. Jaffa Cakes is a McVitie's franchise that was relaunched in 2017. McVities also
produce Hobnobs, Rich Tea, Penguins, Jacob's cream crackers, Carr's water biscuits,
Crawford's, Meredith and Drew and go ahead!

United Biscuits in India

United Biscuits was founded in 1948 with the merger of two Scottish family businesses
— McVitie & Price and MacFarlane Lang. United Biscuits Pvt. Ltd is the UK’s leading
biscuit manufacturer and No. 2 in snacks. It is the second largest biscuit manufacturer in
the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Ireland. Key Markets of United Biscuits are
Canada, USA, Sweden, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Middle East, Australia, India and Nigeria.
Key Brands of United Biscuits are McVitie’s, Fruit & Form, Carr’s, Delacre and BN.

In India United Biscuits started its operation in December 2009. United Biscuits
purchased the plant of S.S. foods with the investment of 15-20 crores located at Kala
Amb industrial area in Himachal. However, in totality UB has already made an
investment of 40 crores for this plant and also planning to invest more. UB India today
directly and indirectly employees over 1000 people and also plans to continue
expanding its presence. The existing market leaders in the Indian biscuit market are
Parle, Britannia, ITC and some other strong regional brands such as Priya Gold in the
north, Cremica in the west and Dukes in the south. Product range of United Biscuits in
India are McVitie's Digestive, McVitie's Cream, McVitie's Cashew Cookies and McVitie's
Butter Cookies.

“Our mission is to provide simple, wholesome pleasures to all our consumers” is the
mission of United Biscuits.

They recognize concerns about obesity and dietary health and working hard to be part
of the solution. They are dedicated to providing clear and accurate information to assist
you in making your own snacking decisions. Whether you're searching for a healthy
alternative or an indulgent indulgence, their vast assortment of high-quality, delectable
baked snacks gives you plenty of options.

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About McVitie’s

United Biscuits owns the McVitie's snack food brand in the United Kingdom. McVitie &
Price, Ltd., the first Scottish biscuit manufacturer, was founded in 1830 on Rose Street
in Edinburgh, Scotland. Before finishing the St. Andrews Biscuit Works plant on
Robertson Avenue in the Gorgie neighbourhood in 1888, the firm relocated to different
locations across the city. One was built in Glasgow, while two huge production factories
at Heaton Chapel, Stockport, and Park Royal, London, were built south of the border.
Queen Elizabeth II has granted McVitie's a Royal Warrant under United Biscuits.

McVitie's, the UK's best-selling biscuit producer, makes chocolate digestives, Hobnobs,
and Rich tea (the top three biscuits to dunk in tea), as well as Jaffa Cakes (the best
selling cake in the UK). McVitie's cookie sales in the UK were more than five times those
of the next two rivals in 2020.

Since its inception in India in 2010, McVitie's has built a solid consumer base in the
nation, making it the go-to brand for health-conscious consumers. They recognised
great development potential in the Indian biscuit market, and India was their first goal.
The firm, which owns many of the country's most popular sweet snack brands, is still a
minor player in the Indian biscuit industry, which is worth Rs 26,000 crore (growing
near double digit at 9.7 per cent a year). It is aware, however, that it is up against stiff
competition. The market is dominated by Parle Products and Britannia, with ITC, the
producer of Sunfeast biscuits, coming in second. Biscuit market would now have United
Biscuits brands taking on established players in cream and cookies segment. Biscuit

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market is estimated to be in tune of Rs 6000/- crore More than 50% of this is of plain
glucose which is dominated by Parle G and Tiger rest is shared between Cookies, Marie,
Crackers, and Nice and Cream biscuits.

The major highlight for Mc Vities in India was when United biscuits launched it’s
flagship brand Mc Vities in India in the year 2010. They took this decision looking at the
population of India turning diet conscious. They launched it in 6 metro cities of India.

McVitie's conducts a television ad to educate Indian consumers about the wholewheat

content of its biscuits, as opposed to 'Maida,' or white flour, which is commonly found in
other biscuits. This is accomplished in the commercial by portraying Maida puffing.
Bipasha Basu, a fitness enthusiast, has been signed on as an endorsement.

In 2016, McVitie's launched two new media campaigns to support its core concept of
'Yeh Habit Hal Fit,' which encourages Indians to adopt fit habits, with a focus on healthy
eating. Kajol, Bollywood's most popular star homemaker, was unveiled as the new
brand ambassador for the first time, in order to assist establish a more general brand
appeal.

Mcvitie’s range of products

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In India there is only one brand of United Biscuits entered that is McVitie’s which is very
popular in all over world. In McVitie’s there are digestive, chocolate, cookies, butter are
presented in india. United Biscuits after launching Digestive biscuits in India has started
testing different varieties such as Cookies and Cream.

United Biscuits have launched Mcvities Cookies in 68gm pack Priced Rs 10/- and would
be competing with Britannia s Good Day and Sunfeast Special. Whereas other variety
from UB is Mcvities Cream chocolate flavour in 75 gm priced Rs 12/- and would be
competing with Britannia s Cream treat biscuits.

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Objectives
This project importantly supports the aspect of Shopper Engagement with the
customers who visited the Reliance Mall in Vikaspuri Delhi during the period of Big Day
Sale or Freedom Sale.

In this project, a daily sales volume target was given for a particular SKU of McVitie’s
1kg family pack and to achieve the sales targets assigned by the company, customer
buying behavior was studied and understood with respect to McVitie’s Digestive
biscuits thus effectively contributed to the overall sales figures for the month of August
during the Freedom Day Sales.

This project is under Modem trade Department of the company and emphasizes on
increasing sales of McVitie’s Digestive biscuits in the modern trade. As McVitie’s had
recently provided a huge discount on their 1KG family pack, there was an increased
need for creation of awareness in the consumer market for Mcvitie’s Digestive biscuits
1KG Family pack. The important objective was to raise awareness among customers for
the that SKU and also study the consumer behaviour when they come to Biscuits section
in the mall as well as the expectations of the consumer from the company while buying
its products. The market needs to be penetrated sightly by understanding its
competitors.

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Work done under the Project
Big Day or Freedom Day sale (held every year on 15th August) for any FMCG
organization is a major affair for any FMCG company with respect to sales and brand
awareness. Companies shell out maximum discounts and offers during this time to get
ahead of their competitors. So, a variety of methods and techniques were used to drive
sales at the modern trade supermarket.

At Reliance Mall Vikaspuri this sale was termed as big day sale and every consumer
awaits this sale to buy essentials. Supermarkets are prepared for a huge footfall during
this time. The brands that are kept at supermarkets also put in extra efforts and get
more inventory. Every brand sends their “Promoters” to stand at their respective
aisle/areas who talk to customers to buy their products, create awareness about the
functional benefits of the product and understand the customer buying behaviour.

Merchandising of the Product

The technique and process of exhibiting and selling things to customers is known as
merchandising. Retailers utilise merchandising to impact customer intent and achieve
their sales goals, whether it's digital or in-store.

Given the increased rivalry for any FMCG product and the change from conventional to
modern trade, it is critical for FMCG firms to develop a presence in Modern Trade
Outlets to stay ahead of the market.

As part of merchandising, checking of primary axis point was done which includes
measuring the number of SKUs, the share of facing, the share of shelf, level of facing for
both self and competitors’ products, the freshness of relevant products and parameters
against Minimum Basic Quantity. Apart from this, checking of backroom stock was also
done as per the requirement of stock.

Product placement is also critical which assures enhanced exposure, which in turn helps
to increase sales. During the initial days, McVities' products were not positioned
together at the appropriate place as assigned in the SOP (Statement of Purpose). Also,
the discount offer chart was not displayed correctly so it was not much visible. A
consumer may not require a 1 kg pack and instead choose for 400 gms, and if he or she
is unable to locate the 400 gms package in a timely manner, the transaction is lost. As a
result, pitching various SKU’s to the number of people was critical.

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Getting Consumer Insights

Insights are required for the development of any plan. It's critical to understand market
and customer dynamics, as well as elements impacting your route-to-market, while
working in Modern Trade. Improved research will provide you the information you
need to make better management decisions and adopt the proper plans and tactics to
target supermarkets and end users. When evaluating the customer and your market,
shopper and consumer insights are both useful research methods.

The attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours that drive purchasing decisions are the focus of
Consumer Insights. It examines when, how, and why customers interact with a brand, as
well as the emotions it evokes. Customer insights are used by brand teams to produce
the proper product message that is aligned with consumer demands. During the time on
this live project, one of the most important things that was done is keeping the
continuous track of the insights and user behaviour. For instance, one consumer said
that they stopped buying McVitie’s Digestive biscuits after they have stopped giving free
bowls with 1 KG family pack.

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Just like this, many instances happened which helped in making some key insights
which are as follows:

 Consumers' purchase decisions are heavily influenced by brand image and trust.
 Because India is a price-sensitive market, shoppers place a high value on the
price and quantity provided.
 Customers were mostly interested in items that offered price reductions or value
bundles, and they only chose things that they were familiar with or had been
using since the beginning(Brand Recall).
 Customers' purchasing decisions in the market are influenced by children and
their taste preferences.
 Because children and young people consume more, their preferences have a say
in the type of biscuits purchased.
 Customers always believe in good quality at less price.
 Customers' thoughts are manipulated by shelf-space. As people view it, the more
shelf space items get, the more renowned or consumed the product or brand is.
 Many consumers still don’t think about health perspective while buying biscuits.

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Active Shopper Engagement approach

The foot fall were majorly recorded on weekends obviously and importantly on
Wednesday which was a "Wednesday Bazar" as there was an array of discounts on food,
beverages, etc. Also, the biscuit section was at the entrance of the store.

To ensure the discount schemes and offers reach a lot more people, they had to be
approached actively, rather than waiting for them to come to the section. This ensured
they know about the special discounts and schemes in place give the Big Day sale and
they get the benefit of the same. This ensured an increase in the numbers. This was also
coupled with sampling strategy/range-selling and giving them a variety of other
product along with the 1KG family pack Digestive biscuit, which was the focus of the Big
day sales.

The Biscuits section was loaded with many biscuit brands and hence, the consumers
often got confused and had to be convinced very hard to buy the specific brand. So, for
this the USP of McVitie’s Digestive biscuits was highlighted which was “No added
preservatives and light, wholewheat product at a very affordable price” and convinced
many consumers to buy them over the competitors. The competitive brands also
included the in-house brand “Nutri Choice” which was lower in price and kept right
beside McVitie’s. Hence, this was made sure that active engagement with the consumers
happened to increase sales. Also, the placement of the product in the primary shelf was
done at the start and among the products that had similar or higher price than McVitie’s.

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Result and Impact of the Work

 Drove value sales by a significant number during the 2 weeks Big Day Sale for
McVitie’s Digestive Biscuits especially 1 KG family pack SKU, through customer &
shopper engagement and suggestive selling at Reliance Mall in Vikaspuri Delhi.
 Sold more than 50 packs of 1KG family pack McVitie’s digestive biscuits per day
 Due to the forward sales strategy, brand awareness increased.
 Sales was increased and customers satisfaction was achieved.
 A standard was set for product placement and its impact in a competitive
modern trade supermarket.
 Learnt many new terminologies and well as techniques of FMCG sales which will
surely beneficial especially with respect to Modern Trade.
 The project gave a clarity about pursuing a career in sales. It enhanced
communication as well as negotiation skills.

Conclusion
Modern Trade has created an essential sales channel that caters to the urban buyer with
significant spending power and a willingness to try new things. This sales channel has
prompted customers to make more impulse purchases, as well as the expansion of
luxury items and the emergence of new product categories. Although modern trade
accounts for just 9.2% of total FMCG trade in India, it is increasing at a far quicker rate
than general trade. Modern trade will continue its spectacular performance in the
future, with growth of more than 25%, compared to the present 28%, and therefore will
expand its penetration.

This project has given me an excellent insight of FMCG company like Pladis Global and
their premium brand McVitie’s Biscuits distribution. It has aided me in understanding
the many companies and brands in the industry, as well as the trade margins and
schemes available to supermarkets and the primary routes for selling these products.
Finally, and most importantly, consumer insight on why a specific brand/biscuit is sold
or favoured more frequently. A particularly valuable discovery was how the brand
image and distribution aid to get the items to the customers. It was also observed how
the presentation, packaging, facing and advertising of these items in various shops
influence client purchase decisions.

Varinder Pal Singh 06th December, 2021 Page 14

References

 http://mcvitiesindia.com/history-details.aspx

 https://pladisglobal.com/about-us/

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pladis

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Biscuits

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