Frozen foods have caught on like magic in the quick commerce space: Mohit Marwaha

Godrej Yummiez, the ready-to-cook brand from the Godrej Tyson Foods stable has announced the expansion of its vegetarian portfolio with the launch of Godrej Yummiez Crispy Potato Starz. 

 

The product is positioned as a preservative-free snack which is made using the Individual Quick Freeze (IQF) technology. The new product is banking heavily on creating awareness via education, to bust the myths around frozen foods. 

 

It is also set to release a TVC in December, conceptualised by The Womb. 

 

On the sidelines of the launch, Campaign India caught up with Mohit Marwaha - AVP, Yummiez (Godrej Tyson Foods), to learn more about the product and its marketing plans...

 

Edited Excerpts:

 

A lot of people in tier two and tier three markets don’t own refrigerators. What does this mean for the brand?

 

This is a challenge for us. If a consumer doesn’t have a refrigerator, we cannot get into that household. However, there are retailers which sometimes don't have refrigerators. What we’re doing for them in these markets is providing them with freezers, where they can stock our products. At least that part of the infrastructure is what we’re selectively going ahead and expanding. But, a consumer without a refrigerator is not our audience. 

 

The technology used for the product is not very familiar to the layman. How are you planning on creating awareness around the same? 

 

While there is a TVC for the product, we’ve realised that this needs more education for the consumer to understand how the technology works. Between digital as well as print, we’re looking at more informative bytes. Digital gives us the flexibility to let people watch as and when they want. We also released a snacking report that talks about this technology and our branding website too talks about it. In a way, we will be unpacking IQF - and all its features anywhere we can. 

 

How are you going to make this process interesting for the consumer who would give anything to stay away from technicalities? 

 

We are going to collaborate with chefs and influencers. The work is already in progress. They will talk about how this technology works and how you can have very great-tasting products with it. We have to marry the message with some interest and luckily, today we have a whole ecosystem of chefs and influencers who can talk about it since they’re aware of it. 

 

What is your media mix going to comprise?

 

Digital is our dominant media, which will comprise 50-55% of our spends. About 20-22% will be TV, with a similar number for outdoor. There is also in-store marketing, which will be 10% of our spends. 

 

What is your target market-share in this category? 

 

We use Nielsen to track our market-share. In non-veg, our market share is close to 24% and for the overall category, which is veg and non-veg combined, our share is about 12%. While we’re a leader in non-veg, what we want is overall leadership and so our target is not only with this launch, but with more launches coming up. We want to double our overall market share. 

 

Going ahead, what else is in store for the brand?

 

Our plan is around innovations, about what the consumer likes. The other plan is around the expansion of our coverage and distribution since the product also needs to be available. Another focus area for us would be to have a good go-to-market approach and make the brand available in more and more outlets. A mix of awareness and innovation is the third leg, which involves educating consumers about why frozen foods are good for health. 

 

With the advent of quick commerce, do consumers prefer ordering frozen food over ready-to-eat foods?

 

In the last two years, frozen foods have caught on like magic in the quick commerce space. Frozen fits very well for any immediate requirement. These are impulsive buys and we’re seeing huge traction here. People still somehow want that hot food on the plate and frozen has that advantage. It’s frozen until it reaches the house, but then you can air fry or fry it.