Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

43
Enhancing Indian Tiger Prawn Exports: A Branding Approach Jitarani Udgata 1 , Ruppal Walia Sharma 2 , Sudhi Ranjan Dash 3 1 Research Scholar, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi 2 Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi 3 Associate Professor, IMS, New Delhi Introduction The present study focuses on the issue of sustaining market share and increasing UVR of the Indian black tiger prawns in the export market. The Indian seafood industry is one of the most important segments of Indian economy in terms of output, foreign exchange earnings and employment generation. Contribution of fisheries to Indian GDP is about 1.2 % (2002-03) which forms about 5.2 % of the agricultural GDP. There is a good demand of Indian sea foods, particularly of the Indian tiger prawns. But a detailed analysis shows that even though Indian exporters seem a satisfied lot today there are danger signals for the future. This year the export of prawns from India decreased from 65% to 52%. India’s UVR is also low compared to that of countries like Vietnam, USA and Singapore. Challenges like lack of value addition, lack of technological skills and facilities and concern over hygienic standards can create a threat for Indian exports. Another threat is that of increasing 1

Transcript of Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Page 1: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Enhancing Indian Tiger Prawn Exports: A Branding Approach

Jitarani Udgata1, Ruppal Walia Sharma2, Sudhi Ranjan Dash3

1 Research Scholar, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi2 Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi

3 Associate Professor, IMS, New Delhi

Introduction

The present study focuses on the issue of sustaining market share and increasing UVR of

the Indian black tiger prawns in the export market. The Indian seafood industry is one of

the most important segments of Indian economy in terms of output, foreign exchange

earnings and employment generation. Contribution of fisheries to Indian GDP is about

1.2 % (2002-03) which forms about 5.2 % of the agricultural GDP. There is a good

demand of Indian sea foods, particularly of the Indian tiger prawns. But a detailed

analysis shows that even though Indian exporters seem a satisfied lot today there are

danger signals for the future. This year the export of prawns from India decreased from

65% to 52%. India’s UVR is also low compared to that of countries like Vietnam, USA

and Singapore. Challenges like lack of value addition, lack of technological skills and

facilities and concern over hygienic standards can create a threat for Indian exports.

Another threat is that of increasing penetration of lower priced cultured, white vannamei

prawns.

This paper analyzes the current scenario of Indian tiger prawns exports, along with a

study of competitor shares and practices. The insights arising from the detailed analysis,

have been used to develop a branding strategy for enhancing UVR and market share of

Indian black tiger prawn exports.

Methodology

The analysis has been done, based on two types of data i.e.secodary data and primary

data.

1

Page 2: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Secondary data: secondary sources accessed include MPEDA(July 2008), WITS

COMTRADE(June 2006), Prowess(July 2008) database,FAO May 2008).

Primary data :The primary data has been taken from the Mumbai based marine prawn

expoters and officers of MPEDA. A qualitative, in depth, exploratoty approach was

adopted. Methodology used was a structured questionnaire along with telephonic

discussions. Besides MPEDA officials reponses were received from ten exporters of

Indian tiger prawn. Judgement sampling was used to select exporters who have

considerable experinece and presence in more than one country. This data was collected

to assess the strengths, weaknesses and problems of Indian exports.

I. Indian Black Tiger Prawn : an introduction

There are more than ten species of saltwater prawns which are reared commercially

throughout the world, but tiger prawns (Panaeus Monodon) are one of the more popular

species. Tiger prawns are reared in countries of Asia which possess tropical climates and

these countries produce 60% to 70% of the world’s total tiger prawn production up from

52% in 1998. Tiger prawns/Black Tiger (Panaeus Monodon) and White Fasho (P.

Orientalis) were the most important species of prawns reared in Asia. According to

MPEDA the tiger prawn is a unique product, has world-wide recognization for the last 10

years. India has been the world's one of the leading producer of prawns known for their

unique physical, chemical and biological properties with the bulk of production coming

from offshore landings1.

Global Status of the Black Tiger Prawn

The black tiger prawn is distributed over most of the Indian Ocean from southeast Africa,

through the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf, around the Indian subcontinent, throughout the

Malay Archipelago, and the western Pacific from southern Japan to northern Australia.

Throughout most of its range this species represent less than 5% of the native prawn

population. Although it only accounts for 5.6% of the world’s landings of all

prawns/shrimps, it is the most dominant single species from wild harvests. In 1996

139,529 metric tonnes of black tiger prawns were landed out of a total 2,470,669 metric

2

Page 3: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

tonnes for all prawns and shrimps (FAO 1998). Of the wild catch two countries account

for 99% of black tiger prawn landings: India at 113,090 metric tonnes (mt) (81%) and

Indonesia at 25,800 mt (18%) 2, 3.

Table 1: World Export Rank of Indian Marine Tiger Prawn

Global Destinated Markets Trade Value($ ‘000) Rank (Trade Value)UAE and

S.Africa

11.71

26.051

Vietnam 6.14 2EU-25,

Japan,

Malaysia and

China

310.71

224.16

10.28

16.32

3

Canada and

Australia

34.56

20.895

USA 210.60 6

Source:COMTRADE, Access from WITS(June 2006)

From the above table it is very much clear that there is a high demand for the Indimarino-

tiger prawn. The main reason behind this is that the Indian marine tiger prawns are

organic, large size, hygenic, fresh and have a better taste then the other species. Besides

that it also have the vitamines , mineral and omega-3 fatty acid like other species of

prawn.

Chacterstics of Black Tiger Prawn

Tiger shrimps dwell in mixed mud – sandy bottom. They can be found from the coastal

areas to the depth of 40 m under the water surface, at the salinity of 5 - 34‰. This species

is characterized by its fast growth, i.e. it can attaine the size of 40 -50 gram in 3 – 4

3

Page 4: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

months. The maximum size of mature females ranges from 220-250mm in length, 100-

300gam in weight. The males are 160-210mm in length, weight 80-200 gram. Black tiger

shrimp is an omnivorous species. It feeds on mollusc, worm (Polycheacta) and

crustacean1.

Health Benefits

Prawns are very rich in vitamins and minerals , whilst very low in fat. Fish and shellfish

also contain Omega 3 Polyunsaturated acids , which cannot be produced within the

body6.

Composition of nutrients of sea prawns are given in the table 2. The main processed

shrimp species are generally giant tiger prawn, Indian white prawn, banana prawn,

Parapenaeopsis, etc. and the products are whole frozen, frozen preliminary

processed, ready processed (include value added and mixed processed), and

canned .  

Table 2:  Composition of nutrients in salt-water prawns

Composition of nutrients in 100g of edible product

Proximate composition Minerals Vitamins

Kcal g mg  mg

Calorie

s

Moistur

e

Protei

n

Lipi

d

Gluci

d

As

h

Calciu

m

Phospho

r

Iro

n

A B

1

B2 PP

82 79 18 0.9 0.9 1.4 79 184 1.6 2

0

0 0.

1

2.

3

Source:http://www.shellfish.org.uk/shellfish_diet.htm ( 8/4/2008)

Processing and Treatment Method of Indian Black Tiger Prawn:   

After rough sorting, shrimp are sold directly to processing plants, shrimp are washed,

weighed and immediately killed in iced water at 0 °C. The most difficult job is to clean

4

Page 5: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

the shrimp picked by hand from pond bottoms at the end of the harvest, because they

contain a lot of mud, organic matter and debris. Shrimp are then kept in ice in insulated

containers and transported by small pick-up trucks for short distances or by large

insulated trucks over long distances, either to processing plants or shrimp markets. For

transportation of live shrimp from farms directly to aquarium tanks in restaurants, the

shrimp are kept in aerated plastic containers at a density of 0.2-0.3 kg/litre of water. The

containers are typically placed on small pick up trucks with a roof. For the export of live

shrimp from across the countries, water temperature is gradually reduced to 16-17 °C

until the shrimp become inactive. The dormant shrimp are then packed alternately in

layers of chilled sawdust or polystyrofoam beads in insulated boxes for export by air.

This dry packing can minimize freight costs and shrimp can survive for 12-15 hours.

Domestic markets mainly require chilled product supplied directly from farms or from

shrimp markets.In processing plants, shrimp are properly cleaned and sorted according to

export standard sizes. Depending on market requirement, shrimp are processed in several

categories before quick freezing at -10 °C and stored below -20 °C for further export by

ship or air cargo. Due to an increasing demand and higher profit margin, many processing

plants increasingly operate value-added product lines abroad7, 8. But in India still

processing is done often at only the very basic level.

II. Production, Export and Global Standing of Indian Black Tiger Prawn

Availability of Tiger Prawn in India:

India has a long coastline (8118 km) and a vast continental shelf . The brackish water

resources are represented by mangrove swamps, estuaries, backwaters, lagoons, tidal

creeks etc. and out of the estimated potential area of 1.2million ha, only 0.16million ha

(13%) is utilized for farming. About 60% of the farmed area is under scientific farming

and 40% under traditional farming4. Scientific farming of tiger prawn was initiated in the

late 1980’s. The growth of shrimp farming was slow in the decade of eighties when

traditional farming accounted for a production of 30,000MT. The area under scientific

farming increased to 20.2% (10,100ha) and production by 86.67%(13,000MT). An

5

Page 6: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

exponential growth in farming took place during early nineties due to the attractive

monetary gains.

Traditional shrimp farming is an age-old practice in India going on in about 50,000ha,

representing 36.23% of cultivated brackish water area. Farming is mainly in the states of

West Bengal (27.18%), Kerala (7.03%), Karnataka (1.71%) and Goa . Till mid eighties,

only mixed varieties of shrimp from traditional farming contributed for cultured shrimp

(<15,000 tons). In the country out of 56 species of shrimp available, only four species

viz., Penaeus monodon, P. indicus, P. semisulcatus and P. merguiensis have commercial

importance and in present farming Penaeus monodon predominates5.

Table 3: Type of Shrimps/Prawns available in India 1:

Trade Name Distribution Areas of abundance

Black Tiger prawn

East coast and South-west coast of India

West Bengal and Orissa coasts

White Prawn Entire west coast and south-east coast of India

Kerala and Karnataka coasts

Flower prawn East and west coasts of India Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat

Brown shrimp

Metapenaeus dobsoni

West and East coasts of India Kerala and Karnataka coasts

Brown shrimp

Metapenaeus monoceros

West and East coasts of India Coasts of Andhra pradesh and Orissa

King prawn Throughout the west coast and certain parts of East coast

Maharashtra and Kerala coasts

Marine shrimp Both the coasts but more in South-West coast

Kerala and Karnataka coasts

Jawala North-west and North-East coasts of India

Maharashtra, Gujarat, and coasts of Andaman and Nicobar Islands

6

Page 7: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Deepsea shrimp

Both the coasts but more in South-West Coast

Souce: FAO

The tiger prawn in India are generally found at East coast and South-west coast of India.

But abundance areas are West Bengal and Orissa coasts given in table-3.

The table-4 gives the production data of Indian shrimps state-wise.

Table 4: State-wise details of shrimp Production during the year 2003-04

Sl. No.

State Potential Area available (Ha)

Area Developed (Ha)

Area under Culture (Ha)

Production (MT)

Productivity (Mt/ha/Yr,)

1 West Bengal 405000 50405 49925 29714 0.60 2 Orissa 31600 12880 12116 12390 1.02 3 Andhra Pradesh 150000 79270 69638 53124 0.76 4 Tamil Nadu 56800 5416 3214 6070 1.89 5 Kerala 65000 16323 14029 6461 0.46 6 Karnataka 8000 3435 3085 1830 0.59 7 Goa 18500 1001 963 700 0.73 8 Maharashtra 80000 1056 615 981 1.60 9 Gujarat 376000 1537 1013 1510 1.49   Total 1190900 171320 154600 112780 0.73 Source: MPEDA

Preference for Indian Black Tiger Prawn

Because Indian black tiger prawn’s meat is delicious and more sweet than other

shrimp/prawn meat, and because it is larger in size, it is more prefered over other marine

shrimp/prawn species1. The Indian tiger prawn is also known for its for organic

composition according to Indian exporters. Also the exporters largely conform to

7

Page 8: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

standards of freshness and hygenic, using advance technology like IQF and have a legal

certification process.

Export of Marine Prawns from India

According to the below table the quantity of total export of India to world has decreased

over the year. Still there is appreciation in the trade value because of incresed

unit value realisation.

Table 5: Export of Marine Shrimps and Prawns from India

Q: Quantity in MT, V: Value Rs. Crore, $: US Dollar in Million

ITEMS  % Share to

Total

  APR-MAR

2006-07

APR-MAR

2005-06

Variati

on

Variation

(%)

Frozen

Shrimp

22

53.88

53.84

Q

V

$

UV$

137397

4506.08

997.64

7.26

145180

4271.51

970.43

6.68

-7784

234.57

27.22

0.58

-5.36

5.49

2.80

8.63

Source: MPEDA (2008)

India’s Performance in key Markets :

Table-6 below indicates India’s major shrimps/prawns export markets in world. The first

column in the table shows India’s major export markets for shrimps/prawns. And the

ranking has been made on the basis of relative position in the respective market in terms

of export value. The Unit Value is in $ ‘000 per kg. India’s position is on top for UAE

and South Africa. Whereas for USA India ranks sixth. The unit value of countries like

Vietnam, USA and Singapore is very high compared to India. Only in case of USA the

unit value of Indian exports is high but it has low market share.

Table 6: Competitors of India in International Market -2006

India’s Relative Position in World Market in terms of total value

India’s

Market Rank 1 2 3 4 5

EU-25 Rank Total

Import

Argentina Ecuador India Bangladesh China

8

Page 9: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Value ($

'000) 3791.40 340.12 317.84 310.71 229.92 181.98

Unit Value 0.006 0.011 0.005 0.006 0.008 0.005

Japan

Rank World Vietnam Indonesia India China Thailand

TradeValue

($ '000) 1954.72 448.05 395.69 224.16 158.79 156.52

Unit Value 0.009 0.009 0.009 0.008 0.007 0.008

USA*

Rank World Thailand Indonesia Vietnam Ecuador Mexico

TradeValue

($ '000) 3124.12 766.08 368.78 343.72 329.27 323.98

Unit Value 0.007 0.007 0.008 0.012 0.006 0.009

Canada

Rank World Thailand China Vietnam India

United

States

TradeValue

($ '000) 236.82 69.27 55.51 46.08 34.56 9.23

Unit Value 0.007 0.006 0.005 0.010 0.009 0.007

UAE

Rank World India Unspecified

Iran,

Islamic

Rep. Pakistan

United

States

TradeValue

($ '000) 27.09 11.71 4.73 4.05 1.82 1.21

Unit Value0.004 0.005 0.007 0.004 0.003 0.012

Australia

Rank World Vietnam China Thailand India Indonesia

TradeValue

($ '000) 185.01 69.66 39.62 36.61 20.89 4.67

Unit Value 0.007 0.009 0.005 0.007 0.009 0.006

S.Africa

Rank World India Mozambique Thailand China Singapore

TradeValue

($ '000) 34.69 26.05 3.76 3.28 0.29 0.28

Unit Value 0.006 0.006 0.005 0.005 0.003 0.011

China Rank World Canada Greenland India Indonesia Thailand

9

Page 10: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

TradeValue

($ '000) 147.26 43.84 22.09 16.32 10.20 9.12

Unit Value 0.003 0.002 0.002 0.004 0.004 0.005

Vietnam

Rank World China India

EU25

members Malaysia Japan

TradeValue

($ '000) 39.92 11.29 6.14 5.52 4.94 4.74

Unit Value 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006

Malaysia

Rank World China Vietnam India Myanmar Thailand

TradeValue

($ '000) 104.52 58.45 12.19 10.28 9.17 6.52

Unit Value 0.006 0.006 0.012 0.007 0.005 0.006

*Note: In USA India's position is in 6th (The trade value is 240,602.201 $ '000 and unit value is

0.010)

Source:COMTRADE, Access from WITS(June 2006)

Internal competition

There is intense competition amongst the Indian exporters and most have little product

differentiation. Some of the big exporters have however taken initiatives to focus on little

value addtition and private labeling. The table-7 gives an indication about the internal

compition in shrimp product . The unit value for companies like Nekkanti Sea Foods

Ltd. and Water base Ltd. is very high where as for Koluthara Exports Ltd. and Uniroyal

Marine Exports Ltd.it is very low.

Table 7: Competition in Internal Market (2006):

Company NameProduct/Raw Material name

Production (Tonnes)

Unit value of sales (Dollar/Tonne)

Asvini Fisheries Ltd. Shrimps 2317.1 1988.54Koluthara Exports Ltd. Shrimps 198 798.54Nekkanti Sea Foods Ltd. Shrimps 2600 2102.62Sharat Industries Ltd. Shrimps 457.49 1305.78Sowbhagya Media Ltd. Shrimps 42.21 1279.72Uniroyal Marine Exports Ltd. Shrimp 1018.81 750.46Waterbase Ltd. Prawns 494.25 2071.27

Source: Prowess(2008)

10

Page 11: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

III. Trends of Prawns Trading in World Market

Increasing competition in world markets for protein and seafood products like shrimps

and prawns, results in constant pressure on manufacturers to cut costs. One example is

the dramatic increase in movement of exports of partially processed seafood from

traditional processing regions to cheap labor markets. Final products are then re-exported

or, increasingly, sold for local consumption in those labor markets. But access to cheap

skilled labor is only one aspect of world trends 10.

India still focuses on the Monodon species such as Black Tiger, Indicus etc. Due to a

lower cost of production, almost 90 per cent of the global shrimp production consists of

the Vannamei species. Due to the cost factor, a large number of seafood exporters

stopped their exports to the US. In 2001-02, 179 exporters were there in active business

with the US, but their number dropped to 80 in 2006-07. (George Joseph, July 3, 2008,

Marine exports on slippery ground, Business Standard). There is a comparative study

given in table-8 of P. vannamei over P. monodon .

Table 8: advantages and disadvantages of the culture of P. vannamei over P. monodon in Asia 11

Characteristic

Advantages Disadvantages

Growth rate

P. vannamei can grow as fast as P. monodon up to 20 g and typically grows faster (1-1.5 g/wk) than P. monodon (1 g/wk) currently in Asia. Size range on harvest generally smaller.

Growth rate of P. vannamei slows after reaching 20 g, making production of large-sized shrimp slower.

Stocking density

P. vannamei is easier to culture in very high densities (typically 60-150/m2, but up to 400/m2) than P. monodon and P. stylirostris which can be aggressive.

Very high stocking densities require high control over pond/tank management practices and are high-risk strategies.

Disease resistance

Although P. vannamei is susceptible to WSSV, Asia is not currently experiencing problems from this virus; Survival rates with P. vannamei are thus currently higher than with P.

P. vannamei is highly susceptible to and a carrier of TSV, WSSV, YHV, IHHNV and LOVV.P. monodonis refractory to TSV and IHHNV. There is currently no ability to select P. monodon for disease resistance.

11

Page 12: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

monodon in Asia and production is more predictable.

Post-harvest characteristics

If treated with ice, P. vannamei are resistant to melanosis.

Handling, transportation and processing of P. monodon is easier.

Marketing

Strong local demand for white shrimp in Asia. Meat yield is higher for P. vannamei (66-68%) than for P. monodon (62%)

P. monodon and P. stylirostris can grow to larger size, commanding higher price than P. vannamei. High competition on international markets for P. vannamei as production is world-wide.

Origin None

P. vannamei is alien to Asia and their importation may cause problems with import of new viruses and contamination of local shrimp stocks.

Government support

None

No support from most countries since they remain undecided on ban imports and farming of P. vannamei. Supply of broodstock and seed problematic in face of bans, leading to smuggling of sub-optimal stocks and disease introduction.

Case-studies on Branding of Tiger Prawn by Competition

Brand Name: “ShiMo” and “Tokaii”Country: Bangladesh

ShiMo Global Group, LLC (D/B/A: Brothers’ Exports & Imports, Bangladesh) is a

harvester, producer, processor, supplier, and exporter of frozen shrimp (mainly Black

Tiger and fresh water shrimps and other deep sea water fishes and seafood. They export

their shrimp and seafood under their brand name is “ShiMo” and “Tokaii”. ShiMo

Global does not “spot sale” any shrimp or seafood to anyone in order to maintain its

brand standard and its commitment to the existing buying partners. They also provide the

company brand name to their clients on the imported shrimp and seafood from their

company, depending on the size of the order, longitivity of the relationship with them.

As a value added service they also offer “private branding” of their shrimp and seafood

for valued clients, for which there may be an additional charge.

12

Page 13: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Shimo ensures that, their handed products rate high on customer tastes for freshness and

quality i.e. smell of the prawn and shell near the tail is intact firm and close to the body

of the prawn 12.

Brand Name: “Silver Sea”

Country: Madagascar

The Malagasy authorities have long term strategies both in capture and culture shrimp

and focus on high-quality products and sustainability 13. With regard to economic

development in the seafood sector, Malagasy authorities, such as the Ministry of

Agriculture And Fishing, define strategies and set conditions for the trade. They are

giving first priority to create the local brand and try to competing with other global

brands14.

Brand Logo: “Q”Country: Thailand

The Thailand government has specific policies related to seafood trade. The broad policy

is to maintain Thailand as one of the important fish producing and exporting country.

Mainly through aquaculture and expansion of high sea and deep sea fisheries that will

improve fish supplies for the domestic market and for exports. Improve competitiveness

they develop an integrated policy and programme involving various agencies to ensure

the safety of food products (including seafood) both for products consumed locally and

for export. Also Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOA) promotes "Q" logo for

food products, including seafood, which have passed quality and food safety certification

in order to achieve the national goal to establish Thailand as "Kitchen of the World".The

“Q” logo serves the role of an endorser. Quality control and value added strategy has also

started for cultured shrimp whereby the government promotes Code of Conduct (COC)

and Good Aquaculture Practices (GAP) labeling, the former has a higher standard, thus

fetches higher price in the market. DOF has established cooperation with Carrefour

supermarket group to promote this programme 15.

Table 9 : Global Branded Tiger Prawns

Country Name Company Name Brand NameBangladesh ShiMo Global Group ShiMo” and “Tokaii

13

Page 14: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Vietnam Vietdelta Industrial Co., Ltd Vietdelta

China Dragonbull Co.,Ltd DragonbullJapan Good Fortune Cold Storage

( GFC )Pmp & Lotus (Popular)Panda Brand, Lucky 11 Brand & Lucky 7 Brand

Singapore Gold Coin Services Pte., Ltd. Gold CoinBio-Feed Industries Pte., Ltd. Bio-FeedSin Heng Chan (S) Pte., Ltd. Red CircleVirginia Industries Pte., Ltd. Virginia

Indonesia - Your NameNikita, Azzurra & Amanda (Buyers Brand)

Australia Beyond Harvest Crimson Tiger Prawns™

IV. Customer Analysis

The Indian marine tiger prawn is primarily targetted at top hotels and restaurants and also

the sophisticated people who want to and are able to buy product.

The main customers for the Indian exporters are the wholesaler who further supply to

hotels/restaurants and/or retailers.

According to Indian Exporters , the customers are basically looking for the certified

product. Sometimes they check colour as an indication of freshness of the product. EU ,

Japan, China, USA, Singapore etc. are leading importers. Most importers are wholesalers.

And the company like Allana, Forstar, Castlerrock etc. having a good reputation in the

world market due to their quality, and high reorganization of company brand name.

According to the exporter’s survey all countries consider organic prawns/shrimps as

good. This could be an advanmtage for India, because in India all marine products

(captured and cultured) are basically produced in a natural way, given in table-10.

Table 10: Demand of Quality by the Importer:

Exporters Name

Import Countries

Major Clients Attributes Looking for

Consumer’s expectation

Consumer’s Satisfaction

Minaxi Fisheries (P) Ltd.

EU, Japan & USA

Whole sellers Certificate, colour, size, freshness

Organic Species and Certified

Very Good

14

Page 15: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

and SPSMarine Plaza

USA, Singapore, Malaysia and Bangladesh

Whole sellers Certificate and freshness and frozen

Organic Species

Good

Allana Investments and Trading

China, Japan, Vietnam and USA

Whole sellers Certificate and freshness and SPS

Organic Species

Very Good

Castlerrock Fisheries Pvt.Ltd

EU, Japan and China

Whole sellers Certificate and freshness and SPS

Organic Speciesand Certified

Very Good

Indian Seafood Corporation

EU, China and Singapore

Whole sellers, Hoteliers and direct consumer (selected clients)

Consistency in quality

Organic Species

Good

Forstar Frozen Foods Pvt.Ltd

EU, Japan and China

Whole sellers, Hoteliers and direct consumer(selected clients)

Consistency in quality and SPS

Organic Speciesand Certified

Very Good

Consumers Knowledge

Consumers are generally not capable of differentiating different varieties of prawns

(white, brown, or tiger) or growth conditions (wild or farm raised). While consumers

identified flavor as the dominant factor influencing their consumption of shrimp,

differences in overall acceptance ratings also reflected influences in the areas of aroma,

appearance, and color acceptance. A majority of consumers could differentiate fresh from

frozen but could not differentiate different shrimp varieties. Although 50% of the

consumers would buy both "Certified" prawn and locally caught prawn, most were

willing to pay more for the former item but not for the latter. Frequency of consumption

and ability to differentiate shrimp samples were contributing factors to their willingness

to pay more for a shrimp product. Chemical safety, more so than microbiological safety,

was a concern to consumers16.

15

Page 16: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

V. Identifying the Gaps and Opportunities

SWOT Analysis- Medium and long term economic viability of the industry

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES OPPORTUNITIES THREATSAbundanent natural supply

Low production costs

Unpredictable production output due to climatic influence

Low financial support form govt.

Internal compition is very high.

Local markets as well as global market

High compitition in global market

The other countries are also start to culture and suppling in a low cost.

Vietnam launched a low cost cultured variety(Vannamei)also famaous on brand called Vietdelta.

Ongoing research for intensive technology

Very low technical level

Lack skilled labour for processing, which Japan, Vietnam, USA , China etc, have.

High cost of marketing

Increased demand of marine shrimps and prawns (tiger prawn)

Positive environmental contribution for cultivating naturally (fishing tactics and pond culture )

Sustainable industry Potential for an environment friendly intensive production

Indian product is largely organic

Investment needed to meet environmental standards (Central & East Europe countries)

Differences in national legislation

Organic certification not for highly intensive systems

Increasing environmental concern and growing demand of organic sea food

Indian seafood products beginning to face problem of bacterial contanmination.

16

Page 17: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Certification cost

Good products and basic processesing quality

Lack of information and awareness for farmers on logistic issues.

Promote quality of controlled production

Safe products

Easy control on safety of production

Poor HACCP implementation

Safe product image

HACCP can further improve consumers’ confidence

Lack of information on HACCP (small businesses)

USA has banned the India shrimp product due to hygiene standards are very low

Consumer confusion and lack of knowledge about species identification

Lack of concentration of the offer

Poor organisation of the producers

Low fish consumption in Central & East Europe countries . So there is a potential for growth

Cheap imports of processed and branded product from overseas

Failure in the communication strategy towards the consumer to highlight the tiger prawn benefit and differentiation from cultured prawn and other species

Legal clarification and distinction between aquaculture (inorganic) and capture fisheries (organic) and certification for organic product

Enlargement of product variety

Loss of exsting markets like US and Stagnation in unit value

VI. Strategy Recommendation

17

Page 18: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Need for Branding

The analysis of the Idnian marine tiger prawn exports highlights the folowing key

challenges for the future are

1. Decline of prawn exporting

2. Threat from lower price white prawns

3. Threat from cultured tiger prawns

4. Low UVR campared to processed prawns required skilled labour and equipments

Indian marine exports faced a setback in 2007-08 as total exports declined to around

545,000 tonnes valued at Rs 7,600 crore from an all-time high of 612,641 tonnes valued

at Rs 8,363.53 crore in 2006-07. According to the experts the main reason for that is

introduction of low-cost variety (Vannamei) for shrimp acquaculture by rival exporters

such as China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.

Since past five years the predominance of Indian shrimp is declining, while the share of

frozen finfish is on an upward move. Shrimp, which had a 65 per cent share in total

seafood exports’ value during 2003-04, has gone down to 52 per cent in 2007-08, while

the share of frozen finfish has gone up from 10 per cent to 17 per cent in the same time

span. The main reason is the entry of tuna, sashmi and other value-added products in the

export basket. This again points towards the increasing demand for value added products

compared to basic commodity exports 9.

While the challenge for India is the inability to realize high UVR due to lack of

processing facilities and skills, the Indian tiger prawns which are exported to Japan, are

reprocessed and re exported with value addition thus getting much higher UVR.

In order to overcome these challenges, it is important to consider branding as a strategic

imperative.

Objective of Branding Strategy

18

Page 19: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

To create a distinct identity and a preference in the global markets for the tiger prawns from India (help in stemming the decline of prawns vs other sea food and will also help increase preference for Indian Black Tiger Prawns in particular)

To sustain market share (help fight threat from the cultured tiger prawns as well as lower priced white prawns)

To gain higher unit value realisation(Differntiation and preference will help justify price premium for Indian Black

Tiger prawn and allow exporter to get far greater revenue from same volume)

Some exporters are using their’s company’s name on their products, but this is more a

label than a brand. Multiple brand/ Privaste labels cannot create strong brand recognition

and associations.

In the longterm undifferentiated unbranded strategy may not yield desired benefits.

Branding stands for a consistant quality and additional value. To compete better, in the

global market, expoters would benefit significantly by adopting a branded approach.

Other food products from India like Mango and Rice have also received a boost by

branding (highlighting country of origin) and/or joint promotion programmes.

The brand's rise to prominence followed the Industrial Revolution and marked the

attendant shift of corporate enterprise towards the dissemination of image-based

products. labeling mass-produced goods helps to unpack the interlocking (pre)histories of

quality control, authenticity, and ownership that make up the modern brand10.

The question is just how important is branding a product, commodity or service? Well, if

you think of "care" every time you see a Johnson & Johnson product, and if you think of

"unlimited selection" when you hear an Amazon.com ad or imagine "young and fresh"

when you reach for a Pepsi, that's effective branding sending a powerful consumer

message that packs a revenue-pumping punch11.

19

Page 20: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Global brands have reaped significant benefits from investment in enterprise marketing

infrastructure, including faster time to market, reduced production costs and better brand

consistency. Building strong brands has become a marketing priority for many

organizations. The presumption is that building a strong brand yields a number of

marketing advantages. Brand strength, operationalized in various ways, can create

differential responses by consumers to various marketing activities and brand advantages

can be manifested in many different ways. Moreover, the more ‘difficult’ the situation

that consumers face, the more likely it is that these brand advantages will be evident. At

the same time, lesser-known brands do have several of their own advantages, although

primarily these reflect the fact that these types of brand have much ‘room for

improvement.’

The marketing advantages of strong brands

Building a strong brand, according Keller, can be thought of as a series of steps. The first

step is to ensure identification of the brand with customers and an association of the

brand in customers' minds with a specific product class or customer need. The second

step is to firmly establish the brand meaning in the minds of customers (i.e., by

strategically linking a host of tangible and intangible brand associations). The third step is

to elicit the proper customer responses to this brand identity and brand meaning. The

final step is to convert brand response to create an intense, active loyalty relationship

between customers and the brand. The following four steps represent fundamental

questions that customers invariably ask about brands—either implicitly or explicitly: (1)

Who are you? {brand identity) (2) What are you? {brand meaning)(3) What do 1 think or

feel about you? {brand respinses) (4) What kind of association and how much of a

connection would I like to have with you? (brand relationships). This is what Keller

terms as Building customer based brand equity12.

Recommended Bradning Strategy for Indian Black Tiger Prawn

20

Page 21: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Looking at the issues and challenges faced by th Indian exporters a two prnoged

approach, for branding the Indian Black Tiger Prawn for the global market, is

recommended.

The two pronged approach would encompass both value addtion to the physical product

and its fucntionakl benefits as well as creating a distint identiy, awareness and preference

for the proposed brand. This would lead to value addtion in terms of the intangible

benefits.

Fig 1: Strategy For Branding:

a) Part 1 of Branding Strategy - Building Brand Awareness and Brand Image

Endorsing Brand to be developed and promoted by MPEDA, highlighting coutnry

of origin. Suggested brand name is Indimarinotiger-prawn and Brand Identity is

given below.

A logo needs to be developed by MPEDA for this brand. And the criteria for use

of this logo should be decided by the MPEDA. Permission should be given only

to those exporters who have MPEDA’s quality certificate for export and provide

specified minimum level of processing/value addition.

Two pronged approach

Processing and value addition by using the updated technology/ skilled labour

Creation of brand awarweness and strong unique brand associations

21

Page 22: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Rationale and key challenge addressed- Endoresemnt provides credibility and helps

smaller brand leverage the benefiots of a comsolidated branding and market

development approach- so Indian exporters can be better equipped to fight threat from

other competitors.

Strong Advetisement and Promotion is needed in the world market . Promotional

activities should include the following:

Opening special counters or shop in shop in selected retail outlets and

employing some special trained people for promoting the product.

Food exhibitions/ prawn festivals/recipe contests in hotels and resturants.

Visual marchandising and POP display at select retail chains.

There is lack of information on the nutritional properties of prawn and shrimp

species. For this both Governement and individual exporters should take some

steps, like

Brief discription of nutritional benefit of the product and differentiation form

other species should be given in packaging material.

The individual seafood company should add sections in their websites and

brochures for product details with product benefits.

Government could undertake PR efforts to talk about uniqueness and health

benefits of tiger prawns.

MPEDA should create an unpaid separate database on the prawn export

company’s name, their products details and contacts .

Companies should create their website and there should be linked to the brand ‘s

main website to be developed by MPEDA.

MPEDA can run selective co-operative advertising campaigns.

22

Page 23: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Once brand and logo is exstablished and expoters start getting higher UVR ,

the MPEDA can charge a small amount as fees for using logo.

Get reviews published with chefs rating Indimarino tiger prawn high as

compared to other species in the foreign markets.

Rationale and Key challenges addressed- Thes efforts will enhance awareness and

visibility of Indian Marine Tiger Prawns for bot cutomers and end consumers. It will at

one level help expand the market and stop decline in prawn demand and at another rlevel

establish desired premium and unique anmd exotic image for the Indian products. This

will enable Indain exporters an advantage over competion, which cannot be easily

undermined only by price differential. The challenge of low UVR can also be resolved

through establishment and promotion of a strong and unique brand.

Developing the Brand Identity

A good framework for planning and building brand identity is given by Kapferer.

According to him, brand identity can be represented by a hexagonal prism ( ref fig-2).

There are six aspects of brand identiy defined by the prism. A brand, first of all, has

physical qualities-its ‘phisique’. It is made of a combination of either salient objective

features (which immediately come to mind when the brand is quoted in a survey) or

emerging ones. Physique is both the brand’s backbone and its tangible added value. A

brand has a personality of its own. By communicating, it gradually builds up character.

The way in which it speaks of its products or services shows what kind of person it

would be if it were human. A brand has its own culture , from which every product

derives. The product is not obly a concrete representation of this culture, but also a means

of communication. Here culture means the set of values feeding the brand’s inspiration.

The cultural facet refers to the basic principles governing the brand in its outward signs13.

Fig 2: Proposed Brand Identity

23

Page 24: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Value Proposition

Functional Benefits:

Good in taste,

Healthy,

Hygenic,

Organic,

Produced in natural marine water and

Contains Omega-3 Polyunsaturated acids

The size also larger than other species i.e, 100-300 gm.

Self-Expressive Benefits:

Satisfaction of choosing best, naturally produced prawns and of being recognised for

good taste and discerrning choice.

Target Segment :

Countries : EU-25, Japan, USA, Canada, UAE, Australia, S.Africa, China, Vietnam and

Malaysia are the major targeted countries of Indimarino-tiger.

Physique: Organic, nutritious large & good flavour , striped, From Natural Indian waters

Personality:Close to nature/ environment friendly, caring, strong , Indian

Culture: Simple, classic, authentic and transperent

INDIMARINO

TIGER PRAWN

Relationship:Trustworthy, Friendly

Customers’ Self-projection: Connossieur, Discerning

Customers’ Reflection:Those who prefer natural products and are particular about their food choice, Top Hotel and Resturent

24

Page 25: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Customers: The targeted customers of Indimarino-tiger are wholesalers, hotels and

resturents, retailer chains.

Positioning:

To the discerning consumer, Indimarinotiger-prawn is the prefered brand of prawn which

give more meat and has a great unique taste because it is organic and of Indian origin.

b) Part 2 of Branding Strategy- Value Addition to the physical product

MPEDA should also provide the technical help. That should set up processing

facilities with trained/skilled laboure. After establishing such facilities MPEDA

can also charge exporters nominally for their use.

MPEDA is giving some basic training for prawn processing units’ employees. But

that is not sufficient. It has also take some more effective steps like:

Coduct some programmes for the seafood industry employees , specifically in

processing technology.

Introduce some focused courses (degree or deploma) on fish technology and

processing in Government Academic Institute. Hire the experties from the

countries which are doing the prawn processing for conducting these courses.

May be it costs little higher initialy, but it will pay off latter.

MPEDA can enter into alliances/technological agreements with countries like

Japan , USA and China for training and setting up the processing industries in

India. By which they will also get a chance to penetrate the other global markets,

who are dealing with the partner countries.

Rational and Key challenges addressed:- Will help Indian exporters come at par with

exporters from more developed countires and thereby sustain market share. It will also

help in getting higher UVR

25

Page 26: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

If the exporters cannot do the processing of raw prawns due to cost, technical or

hygiene standards concerns, then they should go for the cooked canned product.

Because the Indian spices cooked food has good demand in global market.

Rational and Key challenges addressed :- Will help get UVR and fight competion from

cheaper white prawns

26

Page 27: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

Reference:

1. http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AC521E/AC521E01.htm (17/05/08)

2. http://www.aims.gov.au

3. http://www.AIMS - The Supply of Black Tiger Prawn Broodstock for

Aquaculture - Introduction.htm (01/06/08).

4. Vasudevan S., 2002. Aqua feed production for the shrimp grow out Industry.

Aquafeed International 5, (2), 21-23.

5. Vasudevappa C. and Seenappa D., 2002. Literature Review of Shrimp Farming in

India. Individual Partner Report for the Project: Policy research for sustainable

shrimp farming in Asia. European Commission INCO-DEV Project PORESSFA

No.IC4-2001-10042, CEMARE University of Portsmouth UK and FRS

University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore – India, 48 p.

6. http://www.shellfish.org.uk/shellfish_diet.htm ( 8/4/2008)

7. Food And Agriculture Organization, Cultured Aquatic Species Information

Programme, Penaeus Monodon (2000-2008),

8. (http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspecies/Penaeus_monodon ) (30/06/08)

9. The Hindu Business Line (18/08/08).

10. Wengrow, David. Current Anthropology, Feb2008, Vol. 49 Issue 1, p7-34, 28p, 7

illustrations; Richter, Roxane, Electric Light & Power, 00134120, Oct2000, Vol.

78, Issue 10.

11. Hoeffler and Keller, 2003, Henry Stewart Publications 1350-231x Brand

Management Vol. 10, NO. 6, 421–445 .

27

Page 28: Tiger Prawn Branding Paper 1208

12. Keller, Kevin Lane, 1998, Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring and

Managing Brand Equity, New Jersey, Prentice hall.

13. Jean-Noël Kapferer, 1997, Strategic Brand Management: Creating and Sustaining

Brand Equity Long Term, Kogan India Private limited, New Delhi. Pg99-105.

Read More:

14. McDowell Group, October 2006, State of Alaska Seafood Economic Strategies,

DRAFT pp1-139.

15. http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/ad505e/ad505e06.htm#TopOfPage (30/06/08)

16. http://www.shimoglobal.com/ )(01/07/08)

17. Produits de la Mer 2005. August-September 92; October-November 93.

18. (http://aof.revues.org/document517.html) (01/07/08)

19. http://www.infofish.org/fishtradenet/tradereg/tha.html ) (20/07/08)

20. M.C. Erickson, 2007, Consumer Differentiation, Acceptance, and Demographic

Patterns to Consumption of Six Varieties of Shrimp, The Haworth Press Inc,

Volume: 15 Issue: 4 ,pp 35-51.

28