Direct selling company Tupperware is aggressively looking at expansion opportunities in India. To that end, it is developing new product lines designed exclusively for the country besides looking at innovative marketing tie-ups. The maker of premium plastic containers used for storing or serving food, which is fighting thousands of unbranded competitors that are sold at dirt cheap prices, knows too well that’s the only way to stay on top of its game.
Last month, it launched a new range of water bottles (with blow-moulded plastic that is less heavy and so easy to carry) specifically for the Indian market. Before that, it had launched idli makers, serving spoons and masala boxes to secure a permanent position the Indian kitchen. “Our biggest market is southern India. While as few of our products are meant only for the Indian market, the entire R&D work is done in Orlando,” says Anshu Bagai, managing director, Tupperware India.
Tupperware came to India in 1996 and the best-selling products in its portfolio are water-storage solutions, water dispensers and dry storage containers. Its target group comprises school-going children, office goers and housewives. Besides using the usual communication channels like print ads and television commercials, it has placed its products in movies such as We Are Family and Golmaal 3, to name a few.
It also has experience centres (in 15 cities) over the weekends at modern retail formats like Big Bazaar and Spencer’s to provide the Indian consumer an opportunity to touch and feel Tupperware products.
Now, some quick numbers. The Indian direct selling industry is estimated at around Rs 3,100 crore with a 20 per cent growth rate. It is expected to reach Rs 15,000 crore by 2012, say industry experts. Amway leads the pack with about 40 per cent market share. According to another recent report by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, the direct selling business has almost doubled in the last five years and is set to grow rapidly in rural areas. This mode of conducting business started in India way back in 1995 with the entry of global direct selling companies.
Over these years, Tupperware has converted many Indian consumers from traditional metal food containers to plastic. It has built its enviable distribution network through “Tupperware parties” that involves sharing of recipes, cooking advice and health tips among housewives and says its unique selling proposition lies in the fact that it doesn’t recycle the plastic, and it sells spares like an automobile manufacturer or consumer durables major. “We repositioned plastic in the country. Our products are made of virgin plastic. We don’t dump the extra plastic; we sell it off to others who mainly use it for non-food applications, for instance, flower pots, vases and so on. As we also sell spares to help you put together a product again, the number of repeat customers increases,” says Bagai.
