Market and customer survey about availability and use of masala

powder/pastes

The Geneva-based International Standards Organisation (ISO) defines spices and

Condiments as: Vegetable products or mixtures thereof, free from extraneous matter,
used for flavouring, seasoning and imparting aroma in foods. The term ‘spice’ is thus
used to cover the use of spices, herbs and certain aromatic vegetables to impart odour and
flavour to foods. Herbs may be defined as the dried leaves of aromatic plants used to impart
flavour and odour to foods with, sometimes, the addition of colour. The leaves are commonly
traded separately from the plant stems and leaf stalks. Spices may be defined as the dried
parts of aromatic plants with the exception of the leaves. Conventional classification of spices
includes: Hot spices—chillies, ginger; Herbs-- Basil, bay; Aromatic vegetables -- Onion,
garlic (K.V.Peter.2001).
Lifestyle of Indians, especially in the urban areas, is changing these days. The
lives of people have become too hectic. They leave early every morning for work and return
late at night. With rapid urbanization, there is increase in number of working women
population. And as a result, they have little or no time to enter the kitchen and prepare
something for themselves or for their families.
Perishable foods are those that have short shelf life like tomato, onion etc. It is
available at affordable price in its season but price tends to be very high after rains or in off
season. Rising prices upset the budgets of middle and lower-income families.
Thus, if these perishable items are processed to form shelf- stable gravy mix, it can be
used whole of the year. It will add variety to diet and helps in preparation of curry in less
time. Gravy mix formulation can also serve as good source of income for small scale
industries if recommended for commercialization of large scale catering unit. Also this gravy
mix production can be carried out by SHGs (self help groups) in order to earn their livelihood.

FEASIBILIY STUDY:

Aspiring entrepreneurs may have an idea about the type of fruit or vegetable product that they
would like to make. This can come from seeing others successfully producing a food and
wanting to copy them or from talking to friends and family members about products that they
think they could make. However, an idea for a business is not a sufficient reason to begin
production straight away, without having thought clearly about the different aspects. To
reduce the risk and to be successful in marketing of new product after formulation, there is a
need to know what are the products available in the market and what customer prefers to buy.
The information regarding these questions can be obtained through market survey and by
doing survey from customers. This process is known as doing a feasibility study.

Feasibility study is conducted before any investments are made in proposed

enterprise. A feasibility study is not difficult to carry out and is not expensive, but it needs to
address the most important aspect that is needed. It is important to note that conducting a
feasibility study does not eliminate business risk but will reduce them. The feasibility study
can be done by questionnaire method (for customers) and market survey proforma (for
analysis of products available in the market). Proforma should include all important aspects
so that potential problems are addressed.

Important points taken into consideration for conducting a feasibility study for
development of gravy mixes are: Types of gravy mixes sold in market, selling price of the
product, types of customers, customers buying frequency, quality and safety required by
customers, who else is producing similar products (i.e. determining the number and types of
competitors), is there a demand for product (done by finding characteristics required for
product and size and value of market) etc.

MARKET ANALYSIS:

Once it is decided what to formulate, market analysis should be done. Although there are
market research agencies that are able to do this type of work, it is better to do it themselves
because it helps to properly understand the customer needs. Market research provides
knowledge about possible opportunities. It is used to gather information questions like: which
gravy mixes are in demand and most popular, what price can be obtained, what levels of sale
can be made and what are the best selling locations etc.

So, a convenient way to get answers of all the above questions is to prepare a simple
questionnaire for doing feasibility study of the products.

OBJECTIVE:

1) To conduct a market survey to know about masala powder or paste based products
available in the market.
 2) To conduct a customer survey in Pantnagar to know about customer preferences.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

For getting answers to questions like types of gravy mixes sold in market, selling price of the
product, customers buying frequency, quality and safety required by customers, who else is
producing similar products (i.e. determining the number and types of competitors), is there a
demand for product (done by finding characteristics required for product and size and value
of market), what are the best selling locations etc., a survey was conducted in Big Bazzar,
Vishal Mega Mart and Easy day in Rudrapur on 11 October, 2015.

Survey proforma for market analysis of products are as follows:

Name of place:
Date of survey:
Shop Name:

S.No Product Brand Standard mark weight Ingredients Additional

Name information
1. Price – Rs.
Best before
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Along with market survey, customer survey was also done in Pantnagar for getting answer to
questions like which gravy mixes is in demand and most popular, what price can be paid by
customers, what levels of sale can be made etc.

Survey proforma for customers are as follows:

Name of respondent:
Residential address:
Date of survey:
About the customer:
1. In which age group do you belong to:
a) 1-20 Y b) 20-40 Y c) 41-60 Y d) more than 60 Y
2. Gender: male female
3. Marital status: married/unmarried
4. Working status: a. student/ bachelor b. working women

c. Working women with children of age 0-5 years

d. Working women with children of age 6-12 years

e. Housewife

f. Any other

5. Family type: nuclear joint

6. Monthly income: 0- 1,000 1,000 – 10,000 more than 10,000

About the market size:

1. Do you use masala powder in making of vegetables in home? Yes/No
If yes, which brand do you prefer? -------------------------------------------------------------
2. Reason for liking particular brand: -----------------------------------------------------------------
3. How often do you buy this product?
a. Daily b. weekly c. monthly
4. How much do you buy each time: ---------------------------------------------------------- (in kgs or no.)
5. Do you buy different amounts at different times of the year? Yes/no
6. When is the time that you buy the most? --------------------------------------------------------------------
7. When is the time you buy the least? -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the market value:

1. How much do you pay for one pack? ₹ ------------------------------
2. Is the price differs for smaller and larger packs? Yes/No
3. Please write the difference: For smaller packs: ₹--------------- For larger packs: ₹-------------
--------

4. Is the price difference affects your purchase? Yes/No

 5. Does the price change at different times of the year? Yes/No
If yes, when is the price highest?
When is the price lowest?
6. The price that you pay for the product is
a. accurate b. high c. low
7. If price is high, what should be price according to you? ₹------------------------------------------

About sales outlets:

1. From where do you usually buy this product:
a.Local shop b. supermarket
c. street hawker d. directly from producer
e. any other (specify)

Information about new product:

1. How much time do you normally take to cook vegetables like chole, dum aaloo, matar
paneer, rajmah? ---------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Do you use following pastes in preparation of these vegetables:
a. Tomato paste Yes/No
b. Onion paste Yes/No
c. Ginger & Garlic paste Yes/No
3. Do you like to use a product having mixture of tomato, ginger, onion, garlic, and
green chilli, all in one packet in ready to cook form? Yes/No
4. If Yes, then in what form?
a. Paste form c. Powder form
b. Both
RESULT:

On the basis of survey that was conducted in Big Bazzar, Vishal Mega Mart and Easy day in
Rudrapur on 11 October, 2015, following results were drawn.The various products available
in paste form in the market are Veg Makhanwala mix, Fish curry mix, Chinese Manchurian,
Veg curry masala paste, Non- veg curry masala paste (ready to cook), Bhuna masala
((Makhani; Gravy dals and vegetables), Chinese chilli (easy to cook), Paneer butter masala
mix (perfect spice mix), Chicken chettinad mix, Veg Manchurian Miracle masala, Paneer
chilli miracle masala, ginger paste, garlic paste, ginger- garlic paste etc. are available in the
market. Basic ingredients for paste are Tomato, Onion, Ginger, Garlic and Green chilli.

65.21% and 78.26% of products are having ginger and garlic respectively, 56.52%
products are having onion ranging from 10 to 24.7% and 34.78% products contain 21 %
tomato(i.e. 21 gm of tomato in 100gm of paste); and only 13.04% products are having green
chilli. Garlic and ginger in the product range from 2.5 to 18% and 1.8 to 16% respectively.
Whereas ginger- garlic paste contains 43% ginger and 26% garlic respectively.

Edible common salt, sugar, acidity regulator, acetic acid, citric acid etc. are used as
preservative. 21.73% products are containing milk and milk products and cashewnuts also.
Edible vegetable oil is used in 65.21% of products. Cornflour, coconut milk powder, potato,
dessicated coconut are used as thickeners. Many other ingredients found in the products
include turmeric, Red chilli flakes, flavour enhancer, hydrolysed veg. protein, dehydrated
leeks, cinnamon,paprika extract, cardamom, bay leaf, pepper, margarine, soy sauce powder,
caramel, xanthum gum, sunflower oil, curry leaves etc. Price for the products ranges from Rs.
10 to 45 for per 50 gm.

Market survey was conducted to know about the products available in the market,
composition, price, etc. information about the products. Along with market survey, customer
survey was also conducted in Pantnagar in October and November and the results of the
survey are as follows:

Survey was conducted in various colonies of Pantnagar like jha colony, chakferi, tha
colony, Sarojini enclave, Gandhi enclave, Alaknanda working women hostel and many other
places in Pantnagar campus. Two methods for filling of survey proforma were adopted
depending upon the choice of the respondents i.e. survey proforma was filled by respondents
or questions were asked from them and answers were noted down in proforma. As the survey
was to get information regarding masala powder or paste used in home, respondents selected
were female with 19.23% were unmarried and rest were all married. Women or girls of age
20-40 Years participated most (58.46%), followed by women of age group 40-60 Years
(36.15%). Least participation was of age group less than 20 Years and 3.07% of the
participants were of age group more than 60 years. Majority of the families were nuclear
families (79.23%) and only 20.76% were having joint families with all respondents having
monthly income more than 10,000.

working status

working women/girl

housewife

bachelor/student

working women with children

of age 0-5 Y
working women with children
of age 6-12 Y

Figure 1 working status of respondents.

Respondents were asked if they are using masala powder/ paste in preparation of vegetables
at home and it is found that only 5.14% are not using market masala or paste whereas
majority are using market based masala powder/ paste, either in small or large quantity. The
brands of masala powder/ paste preferred by customers are Catch, Goldiee, Patanjali, MDH,
Narpa, Badsah, Ashok etc. % of various brands used by the customers are shown in fig. 2.
When customers were asked reasons for using particular brand masala powder/ paste: taste,
good quality, purity and reliability, uniqueness, faith in the products as used from longer
time, affordable price, etc. were answers suggested by them. Majority of the respondents used
to buy masala powder on monthly basis with their monthly ration.
Buying frequency of masala powder increases in festival (March- April, Oct. – Nov.),
winter, birthday parties, holiday when family members come to home. And buying frequency
decreases in summer, rainy season, in vacations when family go out.
 45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Catch Goldiee Patanjali Ashok Narpa Badsah MDH No specific
brand

Figure 2 brands preferred by customers

Price paid by customers varies from brand to brand. It ranges from Rs.10- 30 for smaller
packs and Rs. 50-75 for larger packs. This difference in price affects the purchase of only few
customers. 90.32% felt that the price they paid for the product is accurate and are satisfied
with the price. Whereas 8.06% feels that price that they pay for the product is high. They pay
Rs. 70-80 for larger packs but the price according to them should be Rs. 40-45 only. And
1.61% respondents feel that they are paying fewer prices for the product when they match
quality of the product with the price.

86.50% respondents buy the products from local market of Pantnagar. 5.55% and
0.79% respondents buy the product from Supermarket and C.S.D canteen respectively. And
rest buy the product from local shop and supermarket both.

The purpose of conducting this survey from customers is to know how much time women is
taking to cook vegetables like aaloo cauliflower vegetable, chole, Dum aaloo, matar paneer
etc. and if they are provided with a product having mixture of basic gravy used in vegetables
like Tomato, onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies etc. all in one packet, they would like to use
this for reducing their cooking time or not. If yes, then the product they would like to take
should be in powder or paste form. When respondents were asked about cooking time,
36.68% cook their vegetables in 15- 30 minutes whereas majority i.e. 41.26% take 30-45
minutes for cooking vegetables and rest take 45-60 min. More than 90% are using freshly
prepared tomato paste, onion paste, ginger and garlic paste in their vegetables. For reducing
cooking time and drudgery in the kitchen, 80% likes to use gravy mix. And in this 80%,
percentage for liking paste or powder or both varies and is shown in fig. 3.

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Paste Powder Both

Figure 3 forms of gravy mix liked by customer for use.

CONCLUSION:

So, from the above results we can conclude that majority of respondents are using readymade
masala powder or paste of various brands but majority prefer Catch brand the most because
of good quality, easy availability and affordable price.

Basic gravy includes tomato, onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli. For cooking of
vegetables like aaloo cauliflower vegetable, chole, Dum aaloo, matar paneer etc. basic gravy
is used. From the results we can see that majority of respondents take 30-45 minutes for
cooking of these vegetables. The reason for this could be time involved in cutting, chopping
and preparation of basic gravy.

From the survey, we can see that 20% respondents do not like to use market based
gravy mix because according to them, freshly prepared tomato, onion, ginger, garlic and
green chilli paste taste best and is not having preservative also. So, good from health point of
view. Whereas 80% respondents like to use product having mix of tomato, onion, ginger,
garlic and green chilli, all available in one packet i.e. gravy mix in powder or paste form in
order to reduce the cooking time. And in selection of either paste or powder, powder is more
liked by respondents. Reason stated by them for this is that powder form is easy to store,
handle, more shelf life and taste better.

So, from above results, we can conclude that we can go for formulation of gravy mix
containing tomato, onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli in powder form. And can be in paste
form if it resembles originality and can be made without using preservative.

REFERENCES:

K.V.Peter. 2001. Handbook of herbs and spices. Cambridge, England. Woodhead

Publishing Limited. p-16.