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Research Proposal

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

UZMA SADAF

STUDENT ID: ST10008921

Word Count: 3230

LECTURER: MATHEW EXTON

GROUP: 3

Research Proposal

INTRODUCTION

WORKING TITLE

Launch of “National Instant Curry Paste” by National Foods Limited, Pakistan in

United Kingdom. An exploratory research on introduction of new quick meal solution

to suit busy lifestyle of most UK families.

PURPOSE

Company History

‘National Foods Limited’ was founded in 1970 and began its journey as a Spice

company in Pakistan, and introduced the concept of healthy and hygienic packed

food spices for the first time. The original initiative of National Foods Limited was to

make food that is clean and hygienic, reduce the total of amount time spent in

kitchens to prepare meals, and promote healthy living in order to offer a rewarding

lifestyle to people who use National Foods products.

Throughout its history that covers a span of over four decades, National Foods

Limited has achieved success through different periods of economic depression,

boom, rapidly changing lifestyles and advancement in technology. Even today, the

company’s main focus is the satisfaction of consumer needs through new product

development to suit the changing market trends.

(nfoods.com, 2011)

Today, National Foods Limited is the Number One company in Pakistan, having six

manufacturing units in Karachi, Bin Qasim and Lahore; In 2009 the company

crossed its benchmark sale of Rs. 5.0 billion and is on a mission to grow to a Rs.

50.0 billion company by 2020’.

(Kazmi. S. K. H., 2009)

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Research Proposal

During the year ending 30 June 2011, national Foods limited contributed to national

exchequer in excess of 1,215.37 million rupees (919.03 million rupees in 2010) to

the government and its various agencies on account of different government levies

including custom duty, sales tax and income tax Moreover, foreign exchange of

717million rupees (594 million rupees in 2010) was also generated through the

export of products to various countries.

(Annual Report 2011, p.27)

Awards & Achievements

The annual brand elections are held every year in Pakistan and are the truest

measure of consumer preference in Pakistan.

The 2010 brand elections were conducted in more than 50 cities of Pakistan where

more than ten thousand voters elected National Foods Limited as the brand leader in

five different food categories namely, Recipes, Jams, Jellies and Marmalades,

Pickles, Spices and Ketchup.

National Foods Limited won the overall first place in Food/Household brands where

there were 3500 brands in the competition.

One of the interesting facts about 2010 brand elections was that when voter profiles

were analysed, it was discovered that most of the voters who elected National Foods

Limited as their favourite brand were females. As women are the heart of every

household in Pakistan, National Foods Limited has emerged as a brand most trusted

by women.

Jams, Jellies, and Marmalades

National Jams, Jellies and Marmalades are a principal commodity for breakfast in

Pakistan. Their bright colour has a pleasing effect on the eye and the appetite with a

good fruit flavour and soft consistency.

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Research Proposal

National Foods Limited surpassed Shezan and Mitchell’s in 2010 Brand Elections in

Jams, Jellies and Marmalades category and took the first place proving the fact that

they are the preferred choice of families seeking healthy breakfast or light meal.

Pickles

Pickles are used as an accompaniment with traditional Pakistani foods and have

tangy taste. Their aroma and taste enhance the appetite and taste of food.

National Pickles won the first place in their category at 2010 Brand Elections.

Recipes

National Foods Limited Recipe masala’s have been adding value to the food and

kitchens of many households since 1970 and make the perfect ethnic dishes of the

subcontinent.

National Recipes were given the top position in recipes category at 2010 Brand

Elections.

Spices

National Foods Limited enjoys the reputation of the first ever company in Pakistan to

offer powder spices in different packing since 1970.

More than four decades later, National Foods Limited spice products won the 2010

Brand Elections, which is a proof of their first choice for many families until today.

Ketchup

National Foods ketchup is equally favourite in children as it is favourite in adults. In

fact the largest consumers of National Foods Ketchup are children.

National Tomato Ketchup won the first place in the 2010 Brand Elections and have

succeeded in meeting the high standards year after year.

(nfoods.com, 2011)

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Research Proposal

Global Market Development

On the International front, National Foods Limited launched its products in India.

Strategic distribution partners were signed and marketing activities created ripples

across the Indian spice market. Consumers in India welcomed the National Foods

Limited products with open arms, and the company hopes to see sales growth in a

short time. National Foods Limited also has aggressively spread activities in other

countries with participation in major international exhibitions including the prestigious

ANUGA trade fair in Germany, the food and hotel (FHC) trade fair in shanghai, and

the 4 weeks long Indian international trade fair (IITF) in New Dehli. Today, National

Foods Limited offers its products in 35 different countries including United Kingdom.

(Kazmi. S. K. H., 2009)

Rating and Certification

According to JCR-VIS, the National Foods Limited holds the medium to long-term

entity rating of A+ (Single A Plus) and short term entity rating of A-2 (A Two).

National Foods Limited is the only food company in Pakistan to have ISO 9001:2008

(Quality Management System), ISO 22000:2005 (Food Safety Management

System), ISO 17025:2005 (Laboratory Accreditation) and HACCP certifications along

with SAP business technology.

New Product: Instant Curry

The term Curry is a generic description of variety of dishes from South Asian

countries mainly, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand. During the

recent decades, curry’s popularity has spread out of southern Asia to international

cooking. Curry can therefore be termed as a pan-Asian or global phenomenon with

great popularity in British, European and Caribbean cuisines. In British cuisine, curry

is used to describe “a sauce-based dish flavoured with curry powder or a paste

made from the different spices and oils”.

(Wikipedia.com, 2011)

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Research Proposal

The curry industry makes up worth more than £3 billion and comprises curry houses,

takeaways and ready meals. At least, 18 tonnes of chicken tikka masala is

consumed every week across the whole of United Kingdom, served up in more than

15,000 Indian restaurants. The British ready meal market for curry is worth over £2

billion.

(Hall. M, 2009)

Curry is not only famous for its taste but it also affects our emotional health and has

many benefits in medical terms. A new research suggests that the British

consumers’ love for curry may be more than just a fondness for the taste. Scientists

at Nottingham Trent University have recently discovered that people can develop an

addiction for curries, because they arouse and stimulate the senses. Their findings

suggest that people don’t just crave for curry because of its taste but also because it

provides a natural high by stimulating our senses.

(Bowerman. K, 2000)

According to a research carried out by Oncology department of Leicester University,

it was discovered that a key ingredient used in curries, curcumin, helps to prevent or

manage colon cancer.

(bbc.co.uk, 2000)

The researchers at University of California in Los Angeles believe that turmeric, a

spice used in curries, is an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and plays an

effective in slowing down the progression of the neurodegenerative disease.

(bbc.co.uk, 2001)

The main philosophy behind the development of new product, National Foods Instant

Curry, is that in the modern times of rapidly changing and busy life styles and

technological advancements, the eating habits of consumers have changed. National

Foods Limited can respond to this problem by introducing ready to cook, quick meal

products based on the idea of quick preparation and convenience in accordance with

modern and busy lifestyles.

Uzma Sadaf

Research Proposal

In this research, I shall endeavour to carry out a detailed study on new product

development: Instant Curry. I shall also keep in view the similar products offered by

other companies offering quick meals and ready-made foods. I shall also try to prove

my hypothesis to be valid while keeping my research meaningful. In particular,

British consumer preference and their liking pattern towards instant meals will be the

focal point of my research.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

I will keep in mind the following questions to facilitate my research process.

What is the likely consumer response to the National Foods Instant Curry?

What factors need to be considered to further enhance the product image?

What factors need to be considered regarding the sustainability of Instant

Curry?

Is the National Foods Instant Curry prone to counterfeit by other companies?

What is the potential for Curry food in British Consumer society?

What are the main factors that could contribute to trigger consumer preference

towards Instant Curry?

How can the new product contribute towards improvement of curry industry

and ready meals in United Kingdom?

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Uzma Sadaf

Research Proposal

My research will comprise the analysis of consumer behavior towards National

Foods Instant Curry and the future outlook of Instant Curry in United Kingdom.

Moreover, other objectives include:

To study the probability of success and sustainability of instant curry in

British consumer society.

To study the factors affecting the consumer satisfaction level

associated with Instant Curry.

To analyze the main reasons behind the customer preference with

regards to Instant Curry

To analyze the strategies to capture the market share

To assess the market attractiveness of Instant Curry in United

Kingdom.

To assess the level of competition in curry and quick meal industry

To identify the main factors affecting the product and the curry industry

in UK.

Further, I shall present my findings on the launch of Instant Curry to National Foods

Limited with the expectations that they will be implemented.

LITERATURE REVIEW

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Research Proposal

SCOPE

New product development for National Foods Limited, Instant Curry, will be the focal

point of my research along with the study of consumers’ reaction towards the new

product and the market potential of Instant Curry to satisfy meet customer

expectations and capture market share.

I will undertake a focused approach towards my research to explore the potential

consumer preference towards Instant Curry and use qualitative and quantitative tools

to measure how wide spread these preferences are. The following aspects will also

be looked at in detail:

The kinds of quick meals that are preferred by consumers

The British consumer reaction if Instant Curry is launched

Customer preference over the different varieties Instant Curry

The factors that could help to achieve brand loyalty

What other Instant Curry quick meals are available in the market at present

Which class and specific group of people would prefer this new product by

National Foods Limited

The likely quantities that consumers would prefer to buy

CONCEPTUAL UNDERPINNINGS

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Michael E Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School, developed a new

framework for industry analysis in 1979, which is referred to as Porter’s Five Forces

Analysis. In Porter’s Five Forces analysis, market attractiveness or profit potential of

a business is used as a basis to analyse the competition in the market.

DEFINITION

Uzma Sadaf

Research Proposal

“Porter’s Five Forces analysis is a framework for analysing industry

impacts based on five key forces designed to provide an indication of

the competitive environment, and consequently, the overall profitability

potential for the business. The combination of the five forces will either

support or drive down profitability.”

(Grensing-Pophal, 2011, p89)

The five forces are:

1. Threat of new entrants

2. Availability of substitutes

3. Power of suppliers

4. Competitive rivalry

5. Power of buyers

Threat of New Entrants

It requires a company to think from the perspective of potential entrants and

identifying the barriers that exist when evaluating the threat of new entrants to its

market. There will be more competition if it is easier for the new companies to enter

an industry. Obviously, some industries have high barriers to entry due to one or any

of the following reasons:

High Costs of production

No or limited access to necessary inputs

High switching costs

Government policy or restriction

The threat of new entrants will likely be higher for a food take-away business as

compared to that of a surgical supplies company.

The other barriers to entry may include:

Brand loyalty

Uzma Sadaf

Research Proposal

Incentives that other companies may offer such as discounts for volume

purchases

High costs of production for a surgical supplies company are certainly a barrier for

others to enter its market. Government policy and legislation is also another

determinant in the surgical supplies industry. Therefore, the risk of a new entrant to

its market for a surgical supplies company will be significantly less than that of a food

take-away business.

Power of Suppliers

The second factor to consider is the power of suppliers in which a company would

take in to account the possible threat of supplier pressure in terms of price. The oil

and gas sector is an example of an industry where the suppliers have significant

power. The factors affecting companies in oil and gas industry include:

Very limited or no substitute

Few suppliers of the product

High costs to consumers to switch companies

Importance of the product to buyers

Higher profits for the seller as compared to that of buyer

Generally speaking, companies prefer to be on the other side of this spectrum in

terms of their suppliers. Most companies want to have many suppliers, readily

available substitutes, low switching costs and higher rates of profits for their products

than those of their suppliers. Tesco is a perfect example of a company that has

placed itself in a stronger position relative to its suppliers and successfully managed

the supplier relationship. A company will be in a better position if it is not reliant on

very few suppliers for production and distribution of its products.

Power of Buyers

The company is likely to face the same pressure from its buyers as it may prefer to

have many suppliers. Again, Tesco is a good example. Tesco, as a customer of

various companies, is in a capacity to negotiate terms in its favour with its suppliers

by exerting significant pressure on them.

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Research Proposal

A company is prone to similar influence from its customers, if:

There are a few buyers.

Buyers usually purchase large volumes of its products.

There are substitute products available to buyers

The product is not very important to its buyers

The buyers are price sensitive, meaning that they would readily switch to

another supplier for a minor price shift.

Availability of Substitutes

If there are very limited or no substitutes of the products for a company e.g. oil and

gas sector, it is very difficult for the customers to switch to another supplier. A

company may consider any substitutes for its products and their availability when

considering its business and analysing the risk associated with customers switching

to other options.

Competitive Rivalry

A company should consider its own competition as well as the competition in the

overall industry when analysing the competitive environment, There will be lower

rates of profits for individual businesses if the industry is very competitive. Soft drinks

is an example of a mature industry where there are many businesses of about

similar size and offering similar products. Therefore, there is great completion in the

soft drink industry where it is very difficult to gain new customers and growth is only

possible by stealing customers away from its competitors.

(Grensing-Pophal, 2011, pp89-94)

THEORIES AND STUDIES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Bailey and Schulz (2000) have established via extensive and comprehensive

research that consumer behaviour has changed massively over the last few years

due to growing awareness and the preference for change and newness. This has, in

turn given rise to change in needs and requirements of consumers and companies

have to try hard to meet up the expectations of consumers. Competitive advantage

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Research Proposal

has become difficult to attain in the fiercely competitive environment. One source

that has affected buying behaviour particularly is technological advancements that

has enabled home shopping and cashless purchasing via credit cards. Brand loyalty

has become a hard territory to be invaded since customers have different

preferences and are likely to switch to other brands if they cannot find the attributes

they are looking for, in a product.

Romariuk and Sharp (2003) have strongly suggested the need to market the

product effectively in order to capture the mind of the consumer thoroughly. They

established by their study that no evidence has been found to prove that certain

attributes are more likely to provoke brand loyalty than others. They suggest that

marketers are supposed not to focus on which attributes would add up to brand

loyalty, instead, they should focus on the number of attributes that should be there.

They have also emphasized on the fact that customers need to know about the

product attributes and that they should be given necessary product information as

customers would encode it and brand loyalty will be caused through memory

encoding and retrieval.

Muthukrishnan (2001) has suggested that although some irrelevant attributes could

be related to brand loyalty since they have been found to affect buying behaviour in

different studies.

Rio, Vasquez and Iglesias (2001) have established via their study that they way

consumers perceive and evaluate a product could be of two types-product evaluation

that includes assessing of physical characteristics of the product e.g. the colour,

shape etc. Brand evaluation, on the other hand includes assessment of intangible

characteristics like brand image, other qualities and uses of the product.

Allen (2001) concluded that there is a strong link between the individual values of

consumers and the way they perceive a product. Cultural values also provoke a

particular buying behaviour since certain attributes may carry a symbolic meaning

that is inline with individual values.

Warrington and Shim (2000) established that companies need to be well aware of

certain attributes that consumers lay more emphasis on. This is so because, different

consumers group would prefer certain attributes over the other. In their study, they

concluded that the customers who were placed in the category of low product

involvement but strong brand loyalty laid more emphasis on product attributes than

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Research Proposal

those who were placed in the category of low product involvement and weak brand

loyalty. Instead they gave more importance to price of the product.

Myers (2003) has established that consumer preference is influenced by the

knowledge about a particular product, a great deal. Assessment of a product or the

way a consumer evaluate a product is influenced by his memory. A certain degree of

bias is also likely to influence his buying decision but the bias could be decreased by

the providing of necessary knowledge and information about company and related

product, a better experience etc.

Siu and Wong (2002) have established that price is the most important attribute that

affects consumer behaviour. Consumers perceive high priced products to be better

in quality whereas a low priced product is perceived as being of low quality. Also,

consumers perceive that high priced products have gone through better quality

control measures in the company.

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Research Proposal

References

Allen, Robert C., 1991. "Agricultural Marketing and the Possibilities for Industrialization in the Soviet Union in the 1930s," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 387-410, Last accessed 7rth Oct,2011.

Bailey, S & Schultz, DE 2000, “Customer/Brand Loyalty in an Interactive Marketplace”, Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 40, no. 3, p. 30-43.

bbc.co.uk. 2001. Curry may slow Alzheimers. [ONLINE] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1668932.stm. [Accessed 15 October 11].

bbc.co.uk. 2000. Curry is Cancer Fighter. [ONLINE] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/597525.stm. [Accessed 15 October 11].

Bowerman, K, 2000. British 'addicted to curry'. BBC News, [Online]. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/989256.stm [Accessed 14 October 2011].

Hall, M, 2009. Cash and Curry. BBC Money Programme, [Online]. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7934918.stm [Accessed 15 October 2011]

Kazmi, S K H, 2009. National Foods Limited. Pakistan and Gulf Economist, [Online]. Issue 24, June 15 - 21, 2009, Available at: http://www.pakistaneconomist.com/issue2009/issue24/res2.asp [Accessed 15 October 2011].

Lin Grensing-Pophal. (2011). Industry Analysis. In: The Complete Idiot's Guide To Strategic Planning. USA: Alpha Books. P89-94.

Muthukrishnan (2001). Mining advertiser-specific user behavior using adfactorsAvailable:http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1772690.1772695. Last accessed 3rd Oct,2011.

Rio, Vasquez and Iglesias (2001) "Brand image perceptions across cultures: a study of symbolic and functional associations", , Vol. Iss: 20, pp.177 - 191

Romariuk and Sharp (2003) . (2004). Conceptualizing and measuring brand salience. Available: http://www.sagepub.com/clow/study/articles/PDFs/05_Romanuik.pdf. [Accessed 3 October 2011].

Siu and Wong (2002) "Characterizing consumer concerns about identification technology", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 34 Iss: 8, pp.609 – 620Warrington and Shim (2000) . (2005). Perceived Quality Levels and their Relation to Involvement, Satisfaction, and Purchase Intentions. Available: http://marketing-bulletin.massey.ac.nz/V16/MB_V16_N4_Tsiotsou.pdf. Last accessed 3rd Oct,2011.

Wikipeida.com. 2011. Curry. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry. [Accessed 14 October 11].

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www.nfoods.com. 2011. Brand Awards. [ONLINE] Available at: http://nfoods.com/contents/our-company/awards-and-achievements/brand-awards/. [Accessed 16 October 11]

www.nfoods.com. 2011. Our History. [ONLINE] Available at: http://nfoods.com/contents/wp-content/our-company/our-history/. [Accessed 16 October 11].

www.nfoods.com. 2011. About National Foods Limited. [ONLINE] Available at: http://nfoods.com/contents/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/National-Foods-Product-Catalogue-2010.pdf. [Accessed 16 October 11].

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