USAEC is a trade association representing apple growers and exporters in 5 American states namely California, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. It intended to assess the demand & supply side of Imported Apples to understand the current market scenario, brand perception, consumption habits & buying considerations of consumers.
The project consisted of 4 elements to be studied, as follows:
- Consumption basket of consumers
- Awareness, Usage & Satisfaction
- Availability & Share of shelf
- Share of sales
Approach:
- All types of heterogeneous consumer profiles like housewives, working professionals & students were covered.
- Relevant sample set of consumers who usually purchase Apples for the household and have purchased imported apples atleast once in the past 1 month were shortlisted for the purpose of this survey to understand their behavior.
- Retailer research was conducted with mid-large format (super/hyper markets) grocery store brands were selected like More, Easyday, Big Bazaar, Spencers, Star Bazaar, D-Mart etc.
- Retailer research involved a mix of both observational research as well as personal interview with store staff. Observational research included brand availability & share of shelf, in-store promotion and branding. Personal interview included sales and market share mapping.
Outcome:
The research provided the following inputs which helped USAEC formulate a robust retail strategy:
- Demand side:
- Consumption basket: Frequency & quantum of apple consumption
- Share of consumption between Imported & Indian apples
- Awareness about apples coming from US and their perception
- Top buying considerations of consumers
- Supply side:
- Share of shelf & variety width
- Share of sales - Share of sales between imported & domestic; Share of USAEC among imported Apple sales
- Retailer/In-store promoter opinion
- Key promotional activities done for Apples