The Hindu Business Line : Pillsbury's one mix for a whole lot of snacks

IDLIS, bhajiyas, murukku, dhoklas, Manchurian... all from the same mix? In what is claimed to be the first of its kind in India, General Mills has launched the Pillsbury Variety Mix which can be used to make a range of snacks that normally require different flours and ingredients in varying proportions.

Speaking to Business Line, Gayatri Yadav, Director (Marketing), General Mills India, said the product was aimed at women who "wanted to exercise more control" in "core cultural food."

The mix would help homemakers and working mothers cater to multiple tastes in the family without having to undertake the proportionate amount of work it would normally entail, she added.

The mix, which can be used to make any common snack, is made up of rice, wheat and black gram.

It is priced at Rs 15 for a 250-gm pack, Rs 28 for a 500-gm pack and Rs 50 for a one-kg pack.

The one-kg pack will yield about 100 idlis or dosas, Ms Yadav said, adding that it was a very affordable product.

On consumers' resistance to using one mix for various snacks, Ms Yadav said incredulity was welcome, and that product experience would drive belief.

"We see a lot of products that don't excite us anymore," she remarked, adding that Pillsbury, through such products, would like to grow the Rs 100-crore ethnic mixes market.

The company has a "high-powered" marketing plan for this product which includes demonstrations at stores and homes and advertising in print and on TV.

A similar product that the company has in its portfolio is Bisquick, which it introduced in the US in the '30s.

Now available in India, it can be used to make cones, waffles, pancakes and piecrusts.

The company sells atta, cake mixes, semiya and pizza under the Pillsbury brand, the Betty Crocker range of cookie and cake mixes and the Green Giant range of canned vegetables in India.

Pillsbury has a 7.2 per cent share of the Rs 800-crore branded atta market.

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