Symbiosis Institute Of International Business ( SIIB )

Final Examination Report

Course Name: Applied marketing research – I

Semester : I

Submitted By:

Name : Hemant Kalamkar

Roll No. : 09020242011
Branch : MBA-AB
Batch : 2009-11
Introduction:

Tomato, though botanically a fruit for the purpose of trade, is generally considered a
vegetable because of the way in which it is consumed. Tomatoes are widely grown in all parts
of the world.
However, the yield per hectare is the highest (245 tonnes/hect.) in Netherlands. The world
average yield of tomato is 23 tonnes per hectare. Indian average yield of tomato is 9.6 tonnes
per hectare.
Tomato products such as puree, juice, ketchup are commonly used commodities in
households, hotels and restaurants. These items are used to enhance the taste of different food
products. Tomato puree is used as a substitute of fresh tomato in cooking. Ketchup is a
sweeter and diluted version of puree(Pulp). Tomato sauce tastes sweet and sour. Both sauce
and ketchup are consumed with food and snacks.
Tomato is a valuable raw material used for processed products such as juice, puree, and paste,
ketchup/sauce, and canned whole. The recent scientific advances have revolutionised tomato
processing industries. This Marketing research has been prepared for production of Tomato
Ketchup and Tomato Puree plant establishment .
Secondary Data:

Sources of secondary data :

http://agmarknet.nic.in
http://www.ediindia.org
www.ikisan.com
www.indiastat.com
www.agricultureinformation.com
www.agricrop.com
http://www.niir.org

Secondary data used:

1. Technology used :
Source: www.smallindustryindia.com, http://www.ediindia.org

Objective:
The knowledge about processing technology gave me an idea about which technology to
be used. All the basic requirements about machinery, plant, raw materials requirement etc
depends upon type of technology.

2. Capacity requirement:
Source: http://www.ediindia.org

Objective:
It is important to know about capital requirement for the plant set up. It also gives the idea
about the quantity of tomato to be procured. It also important to find the suitable supplier
for that particular type of machinery.

3. Raw material requirement

Source: http://www.ediindia.org
Objective:
The objective for procurement data is to find out the suitable location for plant
establishment in such a way that raw material requirement in terms quality and quantity
of the plant can be fulfilled.

4. Cost of machinery:
Source: http://www.niir.org

Objective:
The objective behind this is to find out that the type of proposed machinery is within the
limit of manager or not.

5. Average Yield :
Source: www.icar.org.in

Objective:
The objective behind this is also to know about the minimum tomato cultivated area
required for procurement. It gives an idea about the suitable plant location in order to
availability of raw material, minimize transportation cost etc.

Importance of the project to manager under present environment:

MARKET POTENTIAL

A) Urbanization:

Due to increasing standards of living in the cities and the rapid urbanization
taking place in the rural areas, consumption of tomato based products is expected to go up
steadily. At present, the market of ketchup/puree, specially
in the urban areas, is dominated by brands likes MEGGI and KISSAN. But there is ample
scope for a unit to come up in this product sector to cater especially to the semi urban and
rural sectors of north India. Some Medium and Small Companies are also engaged in its
production. Estimated production of Sauce/Ketchup etc. in North India was around 4000
MT in 1995. The estimated demand for the products for the same period was 10000
MT which is expected to grow upto 12000 MT by 2005 AD. Thus presence of a demand
supply gap of 6000 MT can be observed which may reach a figure of 8000 MT in 2005
AD. Tomato processing in India is still not very significant.

B) With high fluctuation in market prices of fresh tomatoes in the urban market, there are
good prospects for tomato juice, and tomato puree in place of fresh tomatoes in household
sector.

C) Large number of food chains:

Besides the boom in the food service sector including fast food chain, has widened the
demand potential for tomato ketchup and soups.
Experiments have shown that advertisement and publicity have influenced the pattern of
consumption of tomato products.

D) Demographic advantages:

1. Age:

Almost 50 per cent of the population is under 20 years of age, providing a large base
of consumers for several decades to come. India is undoubtedly a young country. As
much as 54% of India’s population is below 25 and 80% are below the age of 45. The
population between the ages of 0 and 19 is a staggering 400 million and is the potential
addition to the pool of working population in the next two decades. This, along with the
working population in the age group of 12-35 can be one of the potential targets for
tomato sauce in the near future.
 2. Income:

The exhibit shown below demonstrates the Indian Economic pyramid as % of population. The
middle class has grown to a staggering 35% of the total population. It shows the future
demand potential in this class.

E) Export :

India has started the export of processed tomato. India’s exports mainly consist of tomato
ketchup/sauce, paste/chutney. India’s exports mainly consist of tomato ketchup/sauce,
paste/chutney. The increased export of about 127 % during last year encourages the growers
and processors.

Tomato processing industry in India

India is not a dominant player in the world market, whether that is in the context of
production, imports or exports. India’s share in world production is only 5.7 per cent.
However, Indian tomato processing industry prides itself on being the largest in south Asia.
Infect, the output of the Indian industry is more than twice that of Japan, and considerably
greater than Thailand and Taiwan. Another encouraging trend has been that India’s
production level of processed tomato has risen by 50 per cent.
Case study on the product and market potential :

Tomato sauce is being increasingly used with snacks like rolls, cutlets, samosas. Tomato is a
highly perishable commodity; its conversion to sauce indirectly increases the shelf life and
confers substantial value addition.

According to the case study an example is mentioned about Northern region.At present, the
leading brands in the market are Maggi, Volfarm and Kissan etc. The population of the NE
region is about 340 lakh, of which the urban population is estimated at about 68 lakh.
Considering an average family size of 5, the number of urban households is estimated at 13.6
lakh. It maybe assumed that about 20% of the urban households consume tomato sauce.
Taking the average consumption per household at 4 bottles of 400 gram per year, the demand
potential for tomato sauce by the urban households is estimated at 435 tonne per year. In
addition, there would be significant demand by hotels, restaurants and this may be placed at
about 25% of the demand for individual households i.e. about 110 tonne per year. Thus, the
total demand potential for tomato sauce is estimated at 545 tonne per year. It would be
prudent to go in for marketing tie-up with established brand names, as far as possible.
 Managerial Brief
Our manager is an entrepreneur who is interested in establishing a tomato purray and tomato
sauce processing plant. For this he wants the following information:
 He wants the limited capacity of the plant based on suitable technology as a small
scale unit by studying only secondary data.
 After this he is interested in surveying the actual growers or cultivators of the tomato
with a view of knowing more about the present cultivation practices, storage period
and practices and also to know about the marketing practices and problems faced
while marketing by the farmers.

OBJECTIVES

OBJECTIVE I

To know the suitable technology for manufacturing tomato sauce and purray.

SUB-OBJECTIVE
A) To know the suitable technology.

B) To know about the technology provider.

C) To know about the suitability of the technology in the budget of the manager.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Fully grown or matured and ripe tomatoes are thoroughly washed preferably in running
water. Afterwards, they are boiled in the steam jacketed kettles to facilitate pulping. During
pulping, juice is extracted and other solid materials are separated. This extracted juice is the
basic material from which other products are made. Sauce is made by concentrating juice and
during the process; salt, sugar, vinegar, spices, preservatives, onion etc. are added to the
extent that the mixture contains not less than 12% tomato solids and 28% total solids. Sauce
is passed through sieve to remove fibrous and other materials. In case of ketchup, the process
is more or less same, but many spices like ginger, garlic, clove, pepper are added with salt,
sugar, vinegar and preservatives. While making puree, juice is concentrated under vacuum
with around 9% to 12% solids. Products are then packed in bottles. Depending upon quality
of tomatoes, recovery of juice varies from 40% to 45%.)
Source: www.ediindia.org

Tomato Puree

The juice obtained as above is concentrated under vacuum to about

9% to 12% total solids so as to get tomato puree. The product is filled in
bottles, crown corked and processed in boiling water for 30 min. and cooled.

Tomato Ketchup

The juice obtained as above is concentrated with spices, salt, sugar,

etc. The spices like cloves, cardamom, pepper, cinnamon and other ingredients etc. are tied
loosely in a muslin cloth and placed in boiling juice in steam Jacketted Kettle. The sugar, salt
and vinegar or acetic acid, etc. are added later on.
Generally concentration is done threefold. It is concentrated to 28 to 30%
solids in which 12% are tomato solids. The final product could be preserved by addition of
sodium benzoate @ 750 ppm. The tomato ketchup is filled hot
into clean, dry bottles, crown corked and processed in boiling water for 30 minutes and
cooled at room temperature.

OBJECTIVE II

To find out the minimum capacity of the plant.

SUB-OBJECTIVES
A) To know about the quantity of tomato required for running the plant.

( From the secondary data we concluded that :

• Capacity of the plant is 300 tonnes per year with 300
working days and working of 2 shift every day
(Source: www.ediindia.org)
 • Investment in machinery is 32 lakhs.
(Source: http://www.niir.org)
• Tomato required per year is 900 tones.
(Note : 100 kg of tomato required for the production of 40 kg juice.)

• Average yield (25 tonnes per hectare)

OBJECTIVE III

To know the present cultivation practices followed by farmers.

OBJECTIVE IV

To find out the storage practices for tomato.

( From the secondary data it is mentioned that tomato and sauce are stored in room
temperature.

Recommended storage temperature, Relative Humidity (RH) and average storage life for
tomato: -

Vegetables Temp 0C RH (%) Storage life (weeks)

Tomato, unripe 8.0-10.0 85-90 4.5
Tomato, ripe 7.2 90 1

From the table we can see the shelf life of tomato is also not very high which will give the
cost benefit while procuring in a lot. It is also a small scale industry so, I am not considering
cold storage in our study for the manager but farmers used to store tomato in Govt. storage
houses. So, that is the part of our questionnaire.

SUB-OBJECTIVE
A) To study about the present cold storage practices followed by the farmer.
B) To study the cost incurred and problems faced in the process.

OBJECTIVE V
To know about the marketing practices and problem faced while marketing.

SUB-OBJECTIVE
A) To know about the different channels of marketing used by the tomato farmers.
B) To know about the farmer’s willingness to shift to the contract farming.

Operational definations:

Cultivation practices:
Practices followed by farmers for growing tomato from land preparation to harvesting of
the crops.
Farmer: A person who is growing grapes in atleast 5 R area in kolar district.

Small scale industry:

These are classified as -

Manufacturing Sector
Enterprises Investment in plant & machinery
Micro Enterprises Does not exceed twenty five lakh rupees
Small Enterprises More than twenty five lakh rupees but does not
exceed five crore rupees
Medium More than five crore rupees but does not exceed
Enterprises ten crore rupees

Source: http://www.smallindustryindia.com/ssiindia/defination_msme.htm

Marketing channels for Farmers:

These are the different ways and means by which farmers sell their produce.
 For farmers marketing channels are:
1. Open market or to mandi
2. Commission agent or traders
3. Directly to industries through contract farming
4. Direct to the company without any contract

Data needs:

Respondent:
Respondent is any member of family cultivating tomatoes in at least 5 R area, who takes
the decisions regarding the cultivation and sale of the produce.
FACTUAL DATA -

1. Variety of tomato used for cultivation

( As our manager wants to know about the present cultivation practices followed by
farmers.)

2. Planting system opted by the farmers

CRITERIA: FLEXIBILITY OF DATA COLLECTION

3. Fertilizers
A) Brand
B) Type
C) Dose
D) Method of application
E) Time of application
CRITERIA : FLEXIBILITY OF DATA COLLECTION
USE OF PHYSICAL STIMULI
Method of weed removal
A) Manual
B) Mechanical
C) Weedicides
i. Brand
ii. Dose
iii Time of application
iv. Method of application

CRITERIA: FLEXIBILITY OF DATA COLLECTION

USE OF PHYSICAL STIMULI
DATA COLLECTION ENVIRONMENT

5. Pesticide
i. Type and Brand
ii. Dose
iii. Time of application
CRITERIA: FLEXIBILTY OF DATA COLLECTION
USE OF PHYSICAL STIMULI
DATA COLLECTION ENVIRONMENT

6. Irrigation
Method of irrigation
Time of irrigation
CRITERIA: FLEXIBILITY OF DATA COLLECTION

7. Harvesting
Stage of harvesting
Time of harvesting
CRITERIA:FLEXIBILITY OF DATA COLLECTION

8. Yield obtained
CRITERIA:NONE

9. Quantity of tomato lost during harvesting

CRITERIA: FLEXIBILITY OF DATA COLLECTION

10.Part of produce sold to:

a. Free market
b. Agents or traders
c. Contract farming
CRITERIA: FLEXIBILITY OF DATA COLLECTION
 11. Storage practices and problems while storing
( Flexibility of data collection)

OPINION BASED DATA NEEDS:

1. Willingness of tomato farmers to shift to contract farming.

2. Terms and conditions on which farmers will shift to contract farming.

CRITERIA: FLEXIBILITY OF DATA COLLECTION

CONTROL OF DATA COLLECTION ENVIRONMENT
DIVERSITY OF QUESTIONS
POTENTIAL FOR INTERVIEWER BIAS

CLASSIFICATORY VARIABLE:

1. Source of household income

2. Education level

As one of our objective is to find out the willingness of the farmer to shift to the
contract farming. I assumed that their opinion will differ according to their Source of
income and education level.
If a person has alternative source of household income he has greater probability to
shift toward contract farming whereas who doesn’t has other income sources, will be
less agree to shift.
Similarly an educated person may have better understanding about contract farming
e.g. benefits, terms and conditions etc. so, respondents decision will vary according to
the education level. )

Exploratory research:

In future I want to conduct focus group interview because by studying the secondary data we
got many varieties and type of inputs but I want to specifically select some of them which are
mostly used by the farmers. By doing that I can able to make my questionnaire as multiple
choice questions instead of leaving as open ended.
For example we got different varieties of tomato used for cultivation such as -

Navni
Vaishalee
Mangala
Shital
Uttapan
Akash
Rajani
Rashmi
I.A.H.S.88-2
I.A.H.S.88-1
And many more. By the help of focus group interview of experts and farmers of that
particular region I can improve my questionnaire.

Type of survey method:

As we have Flexibility of data collection as the mostly guarded criteria because our most
important data needs are opinion based so, I will prefer In-home interview as our survey
method.

Questionnaire

INTRODUCTION

Hello sir, are you a Tomato farmer? What is the area under Tomato cultivation?
Sir, we are students of Agri-Business Management, Symbiosis Institute of International
Business. We have been assigned a project on Market research for a Tomato sause and Purray
plant establishment. This is a part of our learning and we will be obliged if you will help us.
For this, we need some information regarding cultivation and marketing practices of Tomato
followed by you which will take half an hour.
Date: --/--/---- Serial No:

Name: ________

Address:
a. Village …………………..
b. Taluka ………………….
c. District …………………..

1. What is the total tomato cultivation area of land in acres?

----------------------------------------------------------

2. What is area of total land under cultivation?

a) Less than 1 acre b) 1 – 2.5 acres
c) 2.5-5 acres d) more than 5 acres

3. What is the highest level of education of any member in the family?

a) Up to 12th standard b) graduate (agri/non-agri)
c) post-graduate ( agri/non-agri) d) other (if any other diploma holder)

4. What is the total amount of tomato that you are able to produce?
a) Less than 100Kg b) 100-200 Kg
c) 200-500 Kg d) More tan 500Kg

5. To whom do you sell your produce?

a) To private/commission agent b) To Mandi directly
c) Contracted with a buyer d) To industry directly

6. What are the various varieties/types you are using for the following inputs:
INPUTS VARIETIES / TYPES

SEEDS

FERTILISERS

IRRIGATION FACILITIES

PESTICIDES

IMPLEMENTS

STORAGE

POST HARVEST OPERATIONS

ANY MONETARY HELP

Section A :For the group of respondents who sell their produce to open
market.
Section B: For the group of respondents whose produce (whole or part of it) is contracted
to a buyer.

Section A

1. What is the amount of produce that you are selling?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 . At what price do you generally sell your produce?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Is there any other source of income besides tomato cultivation? If yes, then what is it?
 -------------------------------------------------------------

4. What are the problems you are facing while selling the produce?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Are you willing to shift to contract farming?

a) Yes b) No

6.If yes, then on what terms and conditions?

FACILITIES DESIRED DESIRED TERMS AND CONDITIONS

SEEDS

FERTILISERS

IRRIGATION FACILITIES

PESTICIDES

IMPLEMENTS

STORAGE

POST HARVEST OPERATIONS

ANY MONETARY HELP

ANY OTHER TERM

Section B
1. What is the negotiated price of the produce?
2. Whether your contractor provides you with any of these facilities, as a part of
contract?

3. Are you satisfied by the prevailing terms and conditions? If no, then please specify, what
improvements would you want?

FACILITIES CURRENT TERMS AND IF ANY CHANGES REQIURED

PROVIDED CONDITIONS
SEEDS

FERTILISERS

IRRIGATION
FACILITIES
PESTICIDES

IMPLEMENTS

STORAGE

POST HARVEST
OPERATIONS

ANY MONETARY
HELP

ANY OTHER
TERM