Wutan Huatan Jisuan Jishu Volume XVI, Issue X, OCT/2020 ...

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SENSORY EVALUATION OF KHAKHRA AMONG POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

Dr. Binod Sinha1, Dr. Vimal Bhatt2

1, 2 Professor, Balaji Institute of Modern Management, Sri Balaji University, Pune

Maharashtra (India)

1 [email protected] 2 [email protected]

ABSTRACT:

FMCG, the fourth largest sector, contributes major to India's GDP.FMCG items are meant for

frequent consumption and provide high returns. Toilet soaps, detergents, shampoos, toothpaste,

shaving products, shoe polish, packaged foodstuff, and household accessories and extends to

certain electronic goods are most common. Khakhra is a crispy version of Roti; it is usually a

handmade cracker and roasted to provide crunchiness. It is also a healthy snack, which is a typical

recipe in the Rajasthani and Gujarati cuisines. Khakhra constitutes more nutrition in terms of

protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and dietary fibers. This motivated us to take up the topic. We

have used the Hedonic scale in this research. We have used non-probability sampling of a sample

size of 250 postgraduate students and a structured questionnaire. The study is milestones for

creating branded Khakhara.

Keywords: Sensory Evaluation, Nutritional Value, FMCG, Khakhra

SCENARIO OF FMCG INDUSTRY:

Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) is contributing significantly to the Indian economy. The

key drivers are changing lifestyles. Right now, Urban and Rural India are equally significant

segment for the FMCG Market. The market size is increasing and creating an attractive landscape

for growth. It is expected to touch US$1.1 trillion by 2020. The growth rate is approximately 25%

as per the report of IBEF.

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Snack Market in India:

The market for snacks is highly fragmented and is mainly dominated by local vendors who are a

part of the unorganized sector. Lifestyle Changes, Rising Urbanization, Growing Middle-Class

Population, Local Availability, and Availability of Snacks in Small Package Size, Low Price, and

the Company's Strategies to focus on regional taste have given fuel to the growth of the Indian

Snack market.

Brief description of the Product Khakhara:

Khakhra is a traditional ready-to-eat snack or breakfast item. Gujarat is famous for this snack of

course, slowly and slowly, it is gaining popularity in other parts of the country. As a convenient

snack, it is popular during travels because it does not require any further processing at the point of

consumption, needs minimal packaging, and has a long shelf-life.

A nutritious Indian diet snack: crunchy, crunchy, mouthwatering tasty, nutritious, and very light

in weight snack. Favorite among children and teenagers. Available in many different flavors. It is

usually eaten with coffee, tea, chutney, pickles, butter, ghee, topped vegetables, cheese, or yogurt.

Khakhra contains primary ingredient as millets, which contains protein (5-8%), carbohydrates

(65-67%), dietary fiber, and minerals (2.5-3.5%), and it has the highest calcium content among all

the cereals. In recent years, there is growing awareness regarding the nutritive value of food and

to nourish the ever-increasing population; however, the inadequacy of essential nutrients can be

improved through the fortifications and enrichment. A balance of nutrients may be obtained by

including cereals, pulses, milk, and milk products. Such a diet involves carbohydrates, proteins,

minerals, dietary fiber. The modified Khakhra is an enhanced nutritive product, whose sensory

characteristics are studied further.

There is no branded Khakhara in the market, only unbranded ones. Providing a branded khakhara

in different flavors and packaging with a quality seal will give us the first-mover advantage. As

western India consumes the maximum snacks, selling Khakhra is going to prove fruitful in the

long run until the brand makes a niche for itself.



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The need of the hour – From the consumer's point of view:

Khakhra is easily available ready to eat a snack. It should not be too costly. It should not contain

high calories or should not be fried. It is something to munch on when hungry but should not be

heavy on the stomach or lead to loss of appetite. It should be tasty and crunchy. It should not be

perishable and easy to store. It should be branded.

Target Audience:

i. Demographic profile: Students (20-26) years.

ii. Psychographic profile: People who love to eat homemade snacks which are crispy and

crunchy. They are health-conscious and stay away from fried and oily junk food. They are

always on the move, so like munching on small titbits in between meals. They are quality

and brand conscious. They do not have enough time to prepare the snacks at home. They

either live alone because of their jobs or studies or live in a nuclear family where the

couple is hectic. They still relish the homemade snacks but end up buying alternatives

from the market.

iii. Competition:

i. Frito Lay India (a subsidiary of PepsiCo): It has Lays and Kurkure in the market.

ii. ITC: It has Bingo, which is trying hard to compete with Kurkure. It has a Khakra

based flavor under the name of Bingo Mad Angles.

iii. Haldiram Foods: It has the most comprehensive distribution network of

Namkeens in India. It is airtight packaging also makes it the most sought after

snack in the Namkeen category.

iv. SM Foods: It has two leading brands: Peppy and Piknik.

OBJECTIVE:

To understand the Sensory perception of students regarding Khakhra.

To understand the factors affecting the likeliness of Khakhra.



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LITERATURE REVIEW

Year Author Research Study

2010 Zbib, Wooldridge,

Ahmed, & Benlian,

2010

Study highlights

the correlation involved between the country of

manufacture and consumer behavior, purchase intention,

and product quality with respect to potato chips,

2012 (Silayoi & Speece,

2004; Underwood,

Klein, & Burke, 2001)

(Wells, Farley, &

Armstrong, 2007)

Study highlights

Study on Packaging

How packaging attracts consumer's attention to a

particular brand, enhances its image, and influences

consumer's perceptions about the product.

Packaging as differentiation, i.e., helps consumers to

choose the product from a wide range of similar products

and stimulates customers buying behavior.

2015 Emily C. Crofton

Anne Markey Amalia

G.M. Scannell

Study highlights

Consumers' perceptions and expectations towards healthy

snacks, with particular emphasis on the cereal snack

market, and to explore new areas of opportunities for

healthy snacks by identifying consumer needs and wants.

2016 Sharon L. Forbes,

Eldrede Kahiya &

Chloe Balderstone

Study examined

The purchasing and consumption behavior of snack food

consumers

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

We have used Descriptive research design



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SOURCES OF DATA

(1) Primary Data:-

Primary data is the data that is collected for the first time, and that is original in nature. We have

collected the primary data through the questionnaire.

(2) Secondary Data:-

We have obtained the secondary data from the internet, journals and old projects

DATA COLLECTION METHOD

There are mainly two methods of primary data collection survey method and observation method.

We have used a survey technique for data collection in our research.

POPULATION

The population for our study is the male and female consumers of Khakhra

SAMPLE METHOD

We have used the Non-probability sampling technique in that convenience sampling is used in

the Project report.

SAMPLING FRAME

The sample for the research is taken only from PUNE city.

SAMPLE SIZE

The sample size of the survey is 250

DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT

We have chosen the "Questionnaire" as a primary data collection tool and books, journals, etc.

for the secondary data collection.



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ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

178

72YES

NO

Snacks Food Preference

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

BHUJIYA KHAKHRA NAMKEENMIXTURES

OTHERS(Papad, etc)

BHUJIYA

KHAKHRA

NAMKEEN MIXTURES

OTHERS (Papad, etc)

Types of Snacks Preferred



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There are six different flavors in total. These are marked as S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, and S6. All these

flavors were used for testing and were rated on 10 points scale. These different types of Khakhra

were tested by students.

The rating was done by taking into consideration 5 different factors. These factors are:

1) Color and Appearance

2) Flavor

3) Texture

4) Mouthfeel

5) Overall acceptability

*Equal weights were assigned to each factor, considering each factor to be equally important.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

9 am - 12 pm 2 pm - 5 pm 6 pm - 9 pm

Time preference of Khakhra

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Once Twice Thrice More than threetimes

Frequency of Khakhra purchased



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*Average of 100 different recordings was taken into consideration for each factor.

Attributes Weight S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6

Color 0.2 4.6 3.8 8.1 7.3 4.6 6.9

Flavor 0.2 6.7 5.1 8.8 7.7 6.5 4.2

Texture 0.2 5 6.2 6.9 6.6 7.1 5.5

Mouth Feel 0.2 6.4 4.9 7.6 8.8 6.4 5.2

Overall Acceptability 0.2 6.2 5 8.7 7.8 6.7 6.1

Total 1 5.78 5 8.02 7.64 6.26 5.58

Interpretation: The above attributes were assigned equal weights, and for each sample of

Khakhra the means were calculated. The means of each sample was totaled, and the highest mean

was of Sample 3 i.e., 8.02 followed by Sample 4 i.e., 7.64.

Result: This 8.02 reflects that Sample 3 was widely favored by people.

GOOGLE TRENDS



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CONCLUSION

With the rising demand for FMCG and Ready-to-eat products, the Snacks market in India has

created its new footprint. Today, Consumers prefer snacks that are tasty and, at the same time, are

healthy. Khakhra is one such product under the snack segment, which has marked its presence not

only in western parts of India like Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra but also in central and

northern parts of India.

As per the above research study, the results states that there are 5 such factors that a consumer

takes into consideration when purchasing a Khakhra. These are Color and Appearance, Flavor,

Texture, Mouthfeel, and Overall acceptability. Based on these factors, six different types of

Khakhra were tested. This would help the firm to implement better marketing strategies in order

to improve sales and overall profit margins.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

A questionnaire is used as a data collection instrument for collecting Primary data by taking

references to different people.

The time duration was limited to 6-8 weeks.

The study is limited to PUNE city only.

The consumers may not follow what they have stated in their responses in the

questionnaire.



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REFERENCES:

Emily C. Crofton Anne Markey Amalia G.M. Scannell, (2013),"Consumers' expectations and

needs towards healthy cereal based snacks", British Food Journal, Vol. 115 Iss 8 pp. 1130 – 1148

Sharon L. Forbes, Eldrede Kahiya & Chloe Balderstone (2016) Analysis of Snack Food

Purchasing and Consumption Behavior, Journal of Food Products Marketing, 22:1, 65-

88, DOI: 10.1080/10454446.2014.949992

Silayoi, P., & Speece, M. (2004). Packaging and purchase decisions. British Food Journal, 106(8),

607–628. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700410553602

Underwood, R. L., Klein, N. M., & Burke, R. R. (2001). Packaging communication: attentional

effects of product imagery. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 10(7), 403–422.

https://doi.org/10.1108/10610420110410531

Wells, L. E., Farley, H., & Armstrong, G. A. (2007). The importance of packaging design for own‐

label food brands. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 35(9), 677–690.

https://doi.org/10.1108/09590550710773237

Zbib, I. J., Wooldridge, B. R., Ahmed, Z. U., & Benlian, S. (2010). Selection criteria of Lebanese

consumers in the global snack food industry: country of origin perceptions. Journal of Consumer

Marketing, 27(2), 139–156. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363761011027240



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https://doi.org/10.1080/10454446.2014.949992

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