The Hindu Business Line : Pillsbury launches Punjabi atta to take on local players

SEGMENTING the atta market to pit itself against the regional players, General Mills India has launched a new sub-brand under its Pillsbury brand - Punjabi atta.

Having re-launched its flagship atta brand under Pillsbury Chakki Fresh atta' this year, it has now launched a region-specific atta targeting Punjabis living outside their State. Presently, the region-specific Punjabi atta has been launched in the multi-cosmopolitan Mumbai market before being made available on a national level.

Ms Gayatri Yadav, Marketing Manager, General Mills India, told Business Line, ``We are segmenting the atta market and are targeting Punjabis living outside North India. This is a customised and coarser ground atta and has been initially launched in the Mumbai market before being rolled out nationally.''

Carrying the baseline `Sadda Taste, Saadi Roti' (My taste, my roti), Pillsbury Punjabi atta has been designed and customised to suit the Punjabi palate and is being pitted against the regional players such as Roshan da Atta and Shakti Bhog Atta.

Currently, Pillsbury's Punjabi atta is sporting 10 kg packs pegged at Rs 175, which is at a lesser premium than Pillsbury's Chakki Fresh atta (5 kg for Rs 105). Its pricing is also less than that of its competitor brands such as Annapurna (Rs 103 for 5 kg) and Aashirvaad's superior atta with MP Wheat (Rs 105 for 5 kg).

Commenting on the company's strategy to enter the regional atta market, Mr Jagdeep Kapoor, Managing Director, Samsika Marketing Consultants, said, ``The atta market is going the way of the papad market with different tastes appealing to different segments. Pillsbury's initiative to launch North Indian atta is a step in the right direction. It will now compete with regional players such as Roshan Da atta.''

In fact, industry observers feel that with atta moving from a commodity to a brand, sooner or later most of the national atta players have to start looking at the regional brands. As the atta category evolves, it is bound to get more segmented and positioning will not be enough to sustain the brands. In fact, the existing national brands such as Annapurna and Aashirvaad have been focussing more on positioning and value addition than segmenting their offerings for the regional market.

General Mills, with its Pillsbury brand, seems to be the first national branded atta player to have taken the initiative to pit itself against the regional players with its segmentation strategy, beginning with its Punjabi atta.

Pillsbury is today one of the top three branded wheat brands and enjoys a 7.5 per cent value share as per AC Nielsen urban data. According to estimates from the company, the branded atta market stands at about 800,000 tonnes, which comprises about 2 per cent of the total atta market. The branded atta market is growing between 20 and 25 per cent and General Mills claims that its Pillsbury brand has been growing ahead of the market.

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