The Hindu Business Line : AB Mauri plans Rs 5-cr campaign to promote bread consumption

The company will roll out campaigns in the print and out-of-home media and will also tie up with hospitals, schools and conduct recipe contests among housewives for below-the-line promotion.

R. Ravikumar

Chennai, Dec. 11 AB Mauri India is all set to roll out a Rs 5-crore national campaign to promote and encourage consumption of bread in the country.

AB Mauri, a part of the UK-headquartered Associated British Foods Plc, is a major supplier of bakery ingredients, including yeast. It operates in over 24 countries with 40 manufacturing locations with distribution network in 80 countries. In India, it has three manufacturing facilities in Maharashtra, Kolkata and Delhi, and supplies to almost all major food majors including Nestle, HUL, Britannia, Bonn Foods and food chains such as Pizza Hut, McDonalds, MTR and Café Coffee Day.

The company’s India turnover is around Rs 130 crore. According to Mr Binu Varghese, Director-Marketing and Business Development, South and West Asia, AB Mauri, the purpose of the Rs 5-crore, multi-pronged campaign with a tagline ‘Bread for Life’ is also to improve the quality of breads manufactured in India.

“Here, the per capita consumption of bread is 2 kg a year as against an European average of 200 kg . Even our neighbouring country Sri Lanka’s per capita consumption is 23 kg ,” he says.

Attitude change

Mr Varghese attributes the low consumption mainly to the myth that one eats bread only when he is not well. “We want to break that attitude and prove that bread is an alternative even for a healthy person.” He also says that according to a study conducted by the company, in India, no one generally goes to a shop to buy just bread. “When one goes to buy vegetables or groceries he picks up a loaf of bread along the way when he or she sees that at the cash counter.”

Market size

Going by the available statistics, the overall market size for bread in India is a little over 36 lakh loaves a day, and only a third of this is from the organised sector. “However, the market is growing at 12 per cent,” says Mr Varghese.

Initially, AB Mauri will roll out campaigns in the print and OOH (out of home) media and will also tie up with hospitals, schools and conduct recipe contests among housewives for below-the-line promotion. “The first campaign will break in January,” said Mr Varghese.

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