Last week I partnered in a Dutch Economic Mission headed by Prime Minister Rutte. India is a booming market with an annual growth of +7% at the moment. International companies are targeting the rising economy of 1,2 billion consumers. The performance varies from being succesful (Unilever, Danone, McDonalds) to failing to gain a foothold.
Unique characteristics
The main factor that separates winners from losers is the ability to recognise India’s unique characteristics and to align their company’s business model accordingly. Growth and market shares comes from recognising the diversity of India and adressing the specific needs of the local consumer,
Single use sachets of 2 INR
A famous example of Hindustan Lever (Unilever) is the shampoo market where they sell shampoo in single use sachets at a retail price of 2 INR to penetrate the market , instead of trying to only sell larger volumes in bottles that would be out of reach of most Indian consumers.
Food and agri opportunities
India aims to double the food production before 2020. Nowadays 40% of the food is spoiled between production and consumption due to bad infrastructure. Only 2% of the fruits and vegetables are processed in India. This is very low compared to Brazil (30%), USA (70%) and Malaysia (82%). The Indian national policy is to increase the percentage of processing vegetables and fruits to 25% in 2025.
Potential winner
Krishi Star is a potential winner in food processing. A startup to process tomatoes with an international team of experienced retail people who bring in indepth knowledge to explore and expand the market of processed tomatoes in India. Last week, Krishi Star interacted with the participants of the Trade Mission about their strategy and activities. The audience recognised the potential. Hopefully there will be many likewise social enterprises and international companies to meet the demand of the fast growing Indian domestic market.
