Market feasibility of Graded chopped, packed fresh vegetables and fruits

Submitted By
BHAVNA MULCHANDANI PGDM Marketing SIBAR College, Pune

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Acknowledging the debt is not easy to me as so many people. I will take this opportunity in expressing the fact that this project report is the result of an unbelievable amount of encouragement, cooperation, willing to help and moral support that we have received from others. It is beyond our literal and material means to express our heartfelt thanks to Mr. Parikshit Singh, Director, RANA GREENS, Bhopal for his persevering guidance, continuance encouragement and aspiring suggestion during the Project study. I am also thankful to Mr. Anand Pratap, Project Coordinator, in operation dept of RANA GREENS, Bhopal for his special guidance in completing this project. Finally, once again I would like to thank all my team members without whom I would not have been able to do this project.

SUMMARY
With the kids, and round-the-week bottleneck schedules, I found it a difficult task to chop vegetables artistically. So, How to manage our less time in routine? Wouldnt it be nice that when we have a Sunday of the week at our disposal, if we were able to chop the vegetables, for the week ahead, and just label it with the days of the week? Simple, our cooking would start with delicately chopped veggies, which would definitely add finesse to our curry or stew. Rana Greens (Fruits & Vegetables Procurement Unit) has been established to promote horticulture and agriculture concept across the globe. The scope of the project is development of commercial horticulture through production and post harvest management. Rana Greens establishes an equilibrium between farmers who grow vegetables, fruits, flowers and consumer who get these products at a reasonable prize along with its freshness. Vegetable market of any city is unorganized and when we talk about freshness and hygiene of vegetables, it never comes on up to the mark. On the focus of this issue, Rana Greens started their own chopped and packed division of fruits and vegetables to maintain the hygiene and freshness of fruits and vegetables on reasonable prices. This report covers marketing mix of new product line which includes Product description, cost and price of the product, packaging and lastly promotion that includes design of sticker & bar code. The range and variety of competitors of RANA GREENS is also mentioned in the following report. In a nut shell, all important perspective of the product which are required to gain profit from the available market and making the brand RANA GREENS more stable in the market of chopped and packed vegetables have been covered.

MARKETING MIX OF CHOPPED AND PACKED FRUITS & VEGETABLES DIVISION (Let us understand how to position our market offering)
The concept is simple. Think about another common mix - a cake mix. All cakes contain eggs, milk, flour, and sugar. However, you can alter the final cake by altering the amounts of mix elements contained in it. So for a sweet cake add more sugar!

It is the same with the marketing mix. It states that customer can be altered by varying the mix elements. So for a high profile brand, increase the focus on promotion and desensitize the weight given to price. Harvested fruits and vegetables are perishable, and quality loss starts immediately after harvest. Rapid marketing to insure freshness is a desirable feature of locally grown produce. Produce, not sold immediately, needs to be stored properly to maintain appearance, flavor, and quality. Time of harvest, cooling, and storing in shaded areas will help retain quality. Marketing mix varies according to the product and market; as vegetable market is a different and a unique market the marketing mix for this market is also different.

PRODUCT

What does the customer want from our product? What needs does it satisfy? What features does it have to meet these needs? How and where will the customer use it? What does it look like? How will customers experience it? Before the commencement of our Rana Greens project focus on the questions written above was given prior preference, as these are the base of customer satisfaction as it leads to gaining trust and profit to the organization. Product is chopped, sliced, diced, packed fresh vegetables & fruits. In case of vegetables, these can be directly used for the purpose of cooking without pealing and cutting. The kinds of product which the firm is selling are:

Chinese Garden- which includes sliced and minutely diced vegetables for the preparation of Chinese food Like- Noodles & Manchurian. Mixed veg- which can be used for the preparation of vegetable directly, pulav or biryani. Sliced bitter corn and Lady finger Ready to eat SALAD (includes refreshing Cucumber, carrot and tomato). Pealed Methi

We are also dealing with the selling of peeled and sliced fruits. These are Pineapple Oranges Sweet lime

These products are wrapped and fully covered by using thin poly cover. This thin cover is fully transparent which help to hygiene of our product and makes it more attractive.

PRICE

What is the value of the product to the customers? Is our customer price sensitive? Will a small decrease in price gain us extra market share? Or will a small increase be indiscernible, and so gain us extra profit margin? What discounts should be offered to trade customers? How will our price compare with competitors? As we all know Indian consumers are very conscious about price of any commodity while purchasing. Most of the crowd of Bhopal comes from middle and upper middle class families, which will be our target customers. Vegetables are the product which are used in daily bases and mostly bought by Females of the family. When we talk about females, they are very much price conscious. So on the basis of above statement, we decided price of our product. (cost sheets are enclosed which cover cost and weight of the product) As our product is in initial stage, so to create market share we must keep price of the product low as much possible. So that more and more consumers start consuming the chopped packet and turn it into regular habits. The price range of our product varies Rs. 5 to Rs. 20 which is closely related to competitors Product price. We have started giving this product in form of free gifts to our consumer when they buy other vegetables in order to bring the consumption of chopped, Peeled, packaged and ready to use fruits and vegetables into a regular habit.

PROMOTION

Where and when can we get across our marketing messages to our target market? When is the best time to promote? Is there seasonality in the market? Are there any wider environmental issues that suggest or dictate the timing of our market launch, or the timing of subsequent promotions? How do our competitors do their promotions? And how does that influence our choice of promotional activity? Promotion is something which is really important for the growth of any organization. In Rana Greens, promotion plays an important role in increasing the sales especially when it comes to chopped vegetables and fruits. As the product can be used within the limited span of time the promotion helps us to incur profits and decrease losses. This also helps in the branding of the firm. 1. 2.
3.

Promotion can be done with use of Flex display. It also can be done by sending SMS to our customers.

By sticking the RANA GREEN logo on each and every packet of chopped vegetables. 4. By giving the chopped veg packets free to the customer on the purchase of vegetables of RANA GREENS; on a particular bill amount the size and packets of chopped veg packets may differ. The systematized promotion will lead the customers to consumption of our product and turn the use of chopped vegetables and fruits packets to their daily habits.

RANA GREENS logo design for packets

PACKAGING
Packaging is also a part of promotion as it consists of the logo of Rana greens. Packaging is a silent salesman; it influences the customers to buy the products. So well packaged and systematically packed goods attract the customers to buy product. Packaging with the cling wrap, thermacol plates & bowls and in lock pouches of various sizes was considered.

Cost of cling wrap for one packet will be 10 paisa and price of plates & bowl will be differing from 30 to 90 paisa on the basis of their size. Hair drier will be best option to create air tight packing of cling wrap.

SUPPLY CHAIN (Direct Farm to Kitchen)

Direct farm to kitchen is an unique concept introduced by Rana Greens. When selling chopped vegetables, the vegetables have to reach the users at the minimum possible time, otherwise it becomes waste. Minimum time create more sense of closeness and trust.
Process according to the time

FARM CATEGOR Y1 Ra na Gr ee

FARM CATEGOR Y2
ns

FARM CATEGOR Y3
atio ort nsp Tra s en gre n

Tra

ns po rt

ati on

Nodal center
RANA GREENS

na Ra

Chopping and cutting division

s t ic g is Lo
Lo g ist ic

LOGISTICS

RANA GREENS OUTLETS

RANA GREENS OUTLETS

RANA GREENS OUTLETS

SUGGESTIONS

Systematically the whole process must be planned that will help us to understand the whole business plan.

Requirement of trained workforce must be there for this upcoming division. Software or Spread sheet should be used to maintain the inventory status because inventory control is the basic problem of retail sector.

More ways and measures should be use to maintain the freshness of vegetables- like use of boiling water or salt.

Barcode should be used for the marking of the prize and rates. Expiry date should be mentioned on the chopped vegetable packets More promotional activities should be done in order to increase the sales and awareness that will be accelerating future sale.

LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
However we shall try our best in collecting the relevant information for a research report, yet there are always some problems faced. The prime difficulties which were faced in collection of information are discussed below:-

1. Short time period: The time period for carrying out the research was short as
a result of which many facts have been left unexplored.

2. Lack of resources: Lack of time and other resources as it was not possible
to conduct study and analyze response at large level.

3. Limited

team: Limited volunteers affected the project during the process of

brain storming, implementation, promoting and marketing.

4. Delay to provide materials: While preparation of the product, many time we

faced the problem of delay in incoming inventory.

5. Awareness problem: Awareness was one of the worst problem, some of the
consumers were unable to understand respective value of the product, even when the price of product was close to cost.

CONCLUSION
In the present scenario time is the most precious aspect of human life. The product development is basically done to fulfill the requirements and needs of consumers in the day to day life after understanding the current circumstances. The main target customers for this product would be- working women, old aged females, students staying away from their home for further studies, and new mothers. This project is all about commencement of a new product in the already stable firm. Rana Greens is basically dealing with the sale of chopped and graded vegetables at various counters. Now to start with a novel concept of selling chopped, peeled, diced, graded and sliced fruits and vegetables will not only help to grab more profits but also to create an brand image in the minds of consumers. The response to the purchase of the chopped green packets was actually up to the mark. The sales at times were above expectations which helped us to read consumer minds and fulfill their demands in more precise manner. As this project is at the very initial level more research and development must be done to lead the product to the right direction. Promotional activities like giving the product as free gift on the purchase of vegetables of particular amount which have already been brought to the application, helped in increased sales. Due to these promotional activities the demand of the product was also increased, which shows good future aspects of the product. Since the basic motive of the product development is direct farm to kitchen. This project has lead to fruitful results and is an aid to RANA GREENS.