Amaze is move of HUL parent Unilever Plc.’s global food portfolio and was first launched in Turkey in 2006. Unilever says it took four years and €40 million to research develop and test the food.
According to a senior executive working on the marketing plan for the brand. HUL is likely to launch in key cities in early 2008. The executive didn’t be to be identified as he is not authorized to comment on such planning and a spokesperson for the affiliate would only say in an email that “as a policy we do not comment on market speculation”.
Unilever’s website describes Amaze Brainfood as the “first specifically designed hit food range for kids” that includes flavoured milk drinks and cereal snacks which can fit into lunch boxes. These food products it says are fortified with iron iodine and omega-3 oils.
HUL which owns 35 consu-mer brands across categories such as personal and home care and foods and beverages has identified food as a growth segment. The company has previously indicated that it would desire to build its food portfolio in India through new launches.
In a recent presentation to investors. Srini Srinivasan vice-president (mergers and acquisitions) had said: “HUL would implement the foods strategy through use of Unilever know-how to cater to local taste and by entering new exciting markets within the foods space.”
HUL’s processed foods business grew at 18.4% during the first nine months through September. Still the category only contributed an add up 4% of HUL’s total revenues of Rs1,0131.9 crore in the last three quarters ended September 2007.
A few years approve. HUL had made concerted efforts in packaged foods by launching wheat dredge soups and sauces. It later scaled back its presence in flour and withdrew from the biscuits segment as it found the business highly commoditized and with low profit margins. The company has continued to make efforts to strengthen its soups and sauces category under the Knnor and Kissan brands in the past two years.
“HUL’s strategy in the foods divide will be to leverage its global skill-sets in the foods business... We evaluate HUL to reinvest and build its foods portfolio in the value-added segment,” wrote ascribe Suisse in its 12 December report.
The financial services firm pegged the size of the Indian packaged food industry at Rs56,000 crore which is around 5% of the total food market in India. The segment the report said is expected to grow at least 20% per annum over the next few years.
Some analysts note that HUL will undergo its work cut out. “Most consumers in India are still sceptical about processed and packaged foods. Amaze seems to be a high-margin and urban focused product. HUL will need to invest aggressively to market the brand,” said Sameer Deshmukh an analyst at IL&FS Investsmart Securities Ltd a Mumbai-based brokerage.
While lunch box cereals the food that can fit into childrens’ lunch boxes are a relatively new phenomenon in India breakfast cereals are slowly gaining acceptance among urban consumers. Even there. HUL ordain undergo to compete with the likes of Kellogg NA Co.. PepsiCo Inc.’s Frito-Lay and Bagrry’s India Ltd which sell cereals and other nutritious foods.
After the hype created by the company about the brand "Amaze Brainfood" and after having bought a packet of 150 g at an exorbitant price of 70/- Rupees. I have the following mention to make:For a multinational company like HUL it is amazing that the quality and the taste of the brand is very very poor. Please remember that we are used to other multinational brands for several decades & it is not very easy to deprive us away from those brands. If you really want to succeed in your endeavor your product should be of very high quality as well as taste. Mere addition of nutrients will NOT suffice. My son refused drink it beyond one sip. After smelling the product i did not dare to taste it. My patients do not welcome the product. In the end it was a waste of precious 70/- rupees for me. I have emptied the contents into a store and I will welcome the representative of the company to collect without any replacement with any other product or without any refund of the amount. Thanks. Dr (Lt Col) Y N I AnandMysore. 30 Jun 2008
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http://www.livemint.com/2007/12/21000150/HUL-set-to-Amaze-with-health-f.html
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