MUMBAI, June 26: Nestle India has relaunched Maggi soups under the Maggi Rich brand name, pushing a far thicker variety than it was till date. The move is seen as part of the company's efforts to ward off any threat to its leadership by new entrants like the Knorr range of soups by Brown & Polson.According to retailers, the new range of soups under Maggi Rich were launched a month ago and have reported a normal offtake at the city's major consumer outlets.They said that Knorr would have bitten into Maggi's market share during its launch period. However, retailers added, that the consumer response to Knorr soups was commendable when its commercial advertisements and consumer sampling was in full stream. On withdrawal of such consumer offers the offtake seems to have tapered off, retailers said.
Maggi Rich soups come in the same range of tomato (Rs 23 for 65 gm), chicken (Rs 23 for 65 gm), Mushroom (Rs 23 for 62 gm), sweet corn (chicken and vegetable) and mixed vegetable at the same price.
Unlike otherinternational markets, soups is not a large market with growth not very aggressive. For Nestle, soups forms part of its other range of food products like noodles, under the Maggi brand. This cushions the company from any slack in demand for soups at any point in time. Purchase of packed soups in India is an impulse buy and thus does not register a high growth.
The Maggi brand name has already proved successful for Nestle in a range of products starting with the habit-forming launch of noodles in the early 1980s. Apart from noodles, Maggi has proved to be an umbrella brand for products as diverse as ketchups, sauces, soups, special seasonings, and most recently, pasta.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
