Haldiram's Group - Seeking the 'Right' Marketing Mix

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Introduction Contd...

Moreover, the group had to overcome internal problems as well. In the early 1990s, because of the conflict within the Agarwals family, Haldiram's witnessed an informal split between its three units as they started operating separately offering similar products and sharing the same brand name. In 1999, after a court verdict these units started operating as three different companies with clearly defined territories. This split had resulted in aggressive competition among themselves for a higher share of domestic and international markets.

Background Note In 1937, Ganga Bishen Agarwal, (popularly known as Haldiram), opened a small sweet shop in Bikaner, a small district in Rajasthan. Bikaner had a large number of sweet shops selling sweets as well as namkeens. 'Bhujia sev,' a salty snack prepared by Ganga Bishen, was very popular among the residents of Bikaner and was also purchased by tourists coming to Bikaner. In 1941, the name 'Haldiram's Bhujiawala' was used for the first time. In 1950, Prabhu Shankar Agarwal (Prabhu), along with his father Rameshwar Lal Agarwal (son of Ganga Bishen), expanded the business by establishing a small manufacturing unit for sweets and namkeens in Kolkata. The success of this unit motivated Prabhu to upgrade its machinery to improve the quality of its products. As demand for Haldiram's products increased, it was decided to scale up the company's manufacturing and distribution activities. In 1970, a large manufacturing unit was set up in Nagpur in the state of Maharashtra (India).

In 1983, a retail outlet was set up in New Delhi. The outlet became very popular not only among the Delhiites but also among tourists visiting Delhi. Haldiram's was able to achieve significant growth during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992, a manufacturing unit with a retail outlet attached to it was set up in the outskirts of Delhi. A year later, Haldiram's syrups and crushes were successfully launched in the Indian market.

In 1995, a restaurant was opened in New Delhi. In 1997, realizing the potential of namkeens, the company set up a manufacturing unit in Delhi exclusively for making namkeens. To add potato products to its existing product portfolio, machinery was imported from the US. Haldiram's maintained high quality standards at every stage of the production process. All its food items were prepared and packaged in a very hygienic environment.

In the mid 1990s, Haldiram's added bakery items, dairy products, sharbats and ice creams to its portfolio. At the beginning of the 21^st century, Haldiram's products reached millions of consumers not only in India, but also in several other countries, including the US, Canada, UK, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Japan and Thailand.

Analysts felt that the growing popularity of Haldiram's products could be attributed to its constant focus on all the elements of the marketing mix. An article posted on the website apeda.com⁴ quoted some of the company's strengths, "To sustain in the competitive market, Haldiram's has endeavored stress on its product quality, packaging, shelf life, competitive price with a special emphasis on consumers satisfaction and its lingering taste is amongst the best available in the world."

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4] Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) is an autonomous institution, which provides financial, logistics related and promotional assistance to exporters of processed food items from India. Through its website apeda.com, it enables exporters to give a brief account of the company and their products.

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