Amul versus Nestle

Utterly Butterly Delicious Amul!... The taste of India…Swaad India Ka..are some of the most famous and wonderful ads that we have seen. Also..Mummy badi gazab ki bhook lagi..maggi chahiye mujhe abhi (I can never forget this line ever!) has also been the very popular line amongst people here in India.
Then the consumer world in India had not been exposed to as many brands as we are today. There were a handful of brands which when came up with any advertisement, just remained on people’s mind. Every jingle was by-hearted and it was easy too! Some of the most famous jingles in India were (and the ones I remember even now!) from the brands Nirma, Limca, Coca cola, Liril (my favorite!). Then came the whole range of advertisements in the form of jingles and one of my favorites are of course Amul, the taste of India. Jingles apart, I would like to bring in my comparative perspective of the TWO major milk products industry that is burgeoning in India.
Amul India and Nestle India has been the TWO major players in the milk products industry since a very long time. While Nestlé’s ties with India dates back to 1912 as an export unit operating under the name The Nestlé Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company (Export) Limited where it imported and sold finished products in the Indian market, it set up its first factory in 1961 at Moga, Punjab. Nestle developed a milk economy in Punjab (per the request of Punjab government) as against the milk economy that was set up in Gujarat by Amul. Amul was set up in 1945 as Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF). It is a state level apex body of milk cooperatives in Gujarat that helps farmer get good remuneration on his produce.
While both have established themselves on the similar lines, the impact that they have had on consumer minds is totally different. Amul has a more Indian appeal than brand Nestle, which still carries its Swiss look and style. To get a fair look into what exactly I mean, I would like to bring in some facts and my observation here.
Let me start with Nestle, because I think this brand has had a great distribution. Nestle to start with launched its Nestle Milkmaid and Nestle Everyday range. The Everyday milk powder which is popular even now among people all over India (especially in rural India, although rigid, they have very easy acceptance for this brand) is exclusively bought by consumers not as a whitener but as a baby food. I say the distribution is great because, I come from a rural part of India where even the newspapers were rarely available but these products were available to consumers even then. However, they were considered to be premium products (my knowledge is that of about 20 years back) and were purchased on the rare and special occasions. However, their milk products line did not expand much for over few years from then. During those days even the product launches were not many as we witness now. Then Maggi Noodle was launched. I remember one instance which I can never forget from my childhood. Then I was in class 6. One evening loads of free sample packets (what we have as singlet now, that was the only form available then) of Maggi noodles were distributed among students. You could take home as many as you could! I had seen the advertisements on the TV that showed noodles being cooked in a very delicious manner and served by a mom to her two hungry kids from school. The noodle looked really delicious. But I had never tasted it till then. So I was all excited and took those packets home. My elder brother at home cooked it for me and also educated me (for free!) as to how to cook Maggi noodles. Guess I am making good use of it now. Although it tasted yuck then and my uncle made up for it by getting an authentic Chinese noodles for me (tasted really yummy!), now I eat Maggi atleast once in a week, after the whole make over of the flavor. No kidding! To many Maggi is the staple food in India. However, Maggi Cuppa tastes bad! Now they have launched quite a few milk products. They also have a range of beverages and Nescafe classic is another most popular brand and Nescafe Sunrise is my favorite. It’s really tasty and refreshing. Even the advertisement for Sunrise is very refreshing and the Nescafe (Classic) Jingle still rings my head! Nescafe has become so synonymous for coffee here in India that many restaurants have on their menu as “Nescoffee”! Nestle Milo has been another success story. The other range is chocolates and confectionery. Although they have quite a collection Kitkat has only been impressive to me so far. Solely on the basis of the quality products and not a very “Indian” image of the brands, they have surely endured and have been quite popular. Nestle has great marketing strategies that maintains good distribution reaching out to the mass. However the number and variety of products and category ranges are limited here.
Amul launched its butter way back in 1945. However, it was perceived to be a premium product in India. Mostly because a majority of Indians preferred preparing fresh butter at home or buying from the local diary or milkman not many households were open to buy this products. In my place we got butter for 20 Rupees per Kg (heheheh…during those times!!today the rate of inflation has marked 11.5%!!) Only when you traveled by first class in trains or flights you got the Amul butter to taste. I had not heard of Amul butter for a long time. The first I got to know about this butter was when I was in class 10, when my uncle had just returned from Delhi and I was at his home for my vacation in Bangalore.
It was a small packet of butter covered in silver foil. Till then I had not seen this butter packet in any shop, at least down south. I don’t think the distribution of this product was that good and even now in most villages you still don’t get Amul butter. Amul first became famous for its butter among the mass and slowly began to expand itself in other milk products category. It has now about 8 different categories. This organization has a very Indian feel to it and this is more emphasized by its positioning as “the taste of India” as well as its Indian products range like Malai paneer, Amul Lassee, Shrikhand and many more. It has a whole catalog to it. Amul also bags the image as “savior of farmers”, “a milk revolution” and this got only more popularity with a movie made on the organization. Anand, the town where it is situated got all the fame and recognition after this movie was made. Hence, Amul has a very strong patriotic feel (very evident in the ad “the taste of India”, wonderful ad I must say!) to its image. Additionally, it gets only utterly butterly delicious with the moppet girl with the cute frock and round eyes endorsing the brand!
When we look at these two Industries, we know that Nestle has reached out to the masses by quietly maintaining its international image but with a great taste and quality. It has some of the most popular brands effortlessly (Maggi ketchup, its different! Javed Jaffri endorsement)! Where as Amul has this “desi brand” image but the amount of the advertisement that happens is enormous I think. The various activities Amul has got into like sponsoring various programs, hosting many competitions and many more. It even has its own exclusive parlors! Amul has grown a lot bigger and international yet maintaining its exclusive image. But definitely this has bagged a special place in every kitchen in India! While Amul has responded very quickly to the various niches in the market locally as well as internationally by launching products like Amul Kool (targeting the youth) and Amul Masti (Buttermilk educating youth against carbonated drinks!) Nestle is slowly traversing this path by launching Nestle Jeera Raitha! Amul is slowly transforming from the very “cute” image to the “yo” and “yippie” image reaching out to the young crowd stirring them up with their confectionery range too! However, I think Nestle has a mile to reach by getting more versatile in terms of categories and Amul has to shun its premium image and reach out more to the rural parts of India. All said and done, with these two giants competing in this industry we can only expect more goodies to savor! Leaves me with a great feeling! :)