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
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Enhancing Indian Tiger Prawn Exports: A Branding Approach
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.
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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.
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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
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Vietnam Vietdelta Industrial Co., Ltd Vietdelta
China Dragonbull Co.,Ltd DragonbullJapan Good Fortune Cold Storage
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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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