Abstract

The case “Frugal Innovation at Godrej: The ‘ChotuKool’ Refrigerator” is about a refrigerator called ChotuKool from Godrej, which is the result of frugal innovation. The case talks about Godrej’s journey of frugal innovation beginning from its coming up with the idea of inventing a low cost refrigerator for the BoP market in India to the challenges the company faced in manufacturing and distributing the product. The case also discusses how Godrej planned to make two models of the refrigerator — one for the Bottom of the Pyramid consumers and the other for consumers of traditional refrigerators. It concludes with a discussion on the future challenges and opportunities for Chotukool.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• To understand Frugal Innovation and how such ideas translate into successful businesses.
• To adapt frugal innovation for mass market.
• To learn the importance of the social innovation value chain.
• To comprehended need of innovating across the value chain in order to succeed in social innovation.

Keywords

Godrej,Chotukool,Frugal Innovation,affordable innovation,Social Innovation,Inclusive business model,Distribution Management,Infrastructure and Logistics,Consumer Durables,Emerging Markets,bottom of the pyramid,India,Mass Market