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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 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.

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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

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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 11.71 1

S.Africa 26.05
Vietnam 6.14 2
EU-25, 310.71 3

Japan, 224.16

Malaysia and 10.28

China 16.32
Canada and 34.56 5

Australia 20.89
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
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

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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
Calories Moisture Protein Lipi Glucid Ash Calcium Phosphor I A B1 B2 PP
d ron
82 79 18 0.9 0.9 1.4 79 184 1.6 2 0 0. 2.3
0 1
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
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

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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
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,

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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 East coast and South-west coast of West Bengal and Orissa coasts
prawn India
White Prawn Entire west coast and south-east Kerala and Karnataka coasts
coast of India
Flower prawn East and west coasts of India Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and
Gujarat
Brown shrimp West and East coasts of India Kerala and Karnataka coasts

Metapenaeus
dobsoni
Brown shrimp West and East coasts of India Coasts of Andhra pradesh and
Orissa
Metapenaeus
monoceros
King prawn Throughout the west coast and Maharashtra and Kerala coasts
certain parts of East coast
Marine shrimp Both the coasts but more in South- Kerala and Karnataka coasts
West coast
Jawala North-west and North-East coasts Maharashtra, Gujarat, and coasts
of India of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Deepsea Both the coasts but more in South-
shrimp 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.

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

Sl. State Potential Area Area Productio Productivity


N Area Developed under n (MT) (Mt/ha/Yr,)
o. available (Ha) Culture
(Ha) (Ha)
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
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 APR-MAR APR-MAR Variati Variation
Total 2006-07 2005-06 on (%)
Frozen 22 Q 137397 145180 -7784 -5.36

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Shrimp 53.88 V 4506.08 4271.51 234.57 5.49
53.84 $ 997.64 970.43 27.22 2.80
UV$ 7.26 6.68 0.58 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
Total
Rank Import Argentina Ecuador India Bangladesh China
Value ($
'000) 3791.40 340.12 317.84 310.71 229.92 181.98
EU-25 Unit Value 0.006 0.011 0.005 0.006 0.008 0.005
Rank World Vietnam Indonesia India China Thailand
TradeValue
($ '000) 1954.72 448.05 395.69 224.16 158.79 156.52
Japan Unit Value 0.009 0.009 0.009 0.008 0.007 0.008
Rank World Thailand Indonesia Vietnam Ecuador Mexico
TradeValue
($ '000) 3124.12 766.08 368.78 343.72 329.27 323.98
USA* Unit Value 0.007 0.007 0.008 0.012 0.006 0.009
United
Rank World Thailand China Vietnam India States
TradeValue
($ '000) 236.82 69.27 55.51 46.08 34.56 9.23
Canada Unit Value 0.007 0.006 0.005 0.010 0.009 0.007

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Iran,
Islamic United
Rank World India Unspecified Rep. Pakistan States
TradeValue
($ '000) 27.09 11.71 4.73 4.05 1.82 1.21
UAE Unit Value 0.004 0.005 0.007 0.004 0.003 0.012
Rank World Vietnam China Thailand India Indonesia
TradeValue
($ '000) 185.01 69.66 39.62 36.61 20.89 4.67
Australia Unit Value 0.007 0.009 0.005 0.007 0.009 0.006
Rank World India Mozambique Thailand China Singapore
TradeValue
($ '000) 34.69 26.05 3.76 3.28 0.29 0.28
S.Africa Unit Value 0.006 0.006 0.005 0.005 0.003 0.011
Rank World Canada Greenland India Indonesia Thailand
TradeValue
($ '000) 147.26 43.84 22.09 16.32 10.20 9.12
China Unit Value 0.003 0.002 0.002 0.004 0.004 0.005
EU25
Rank World China India members Malaysia Japan
TradeValue
($ '000) 39.92 11.29 6.14 5.52 4.94 4.74
Vietnam Unit Value 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006
Rank World China Vietnam India Myanmar Thailand
TradeValue
($ '000) 104.52 58.45 12.19 10.28 9.17 6.52
Malaysia 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.

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Table 7: Competition in Internal Market (2006):
Product/Raw Production Unit value of sales
Company Name Material name (Tonnes) (Dollar/Tonne)
Asvini Fisheries Ltd. Shrimps 2317.1 1988.54
Koluthara Exports Ltd. Shrimps 198 798.54
Nekkanti Sea Foods Ltd. Shrimps 2600 2102.62
Sharat Industries Ltd. Shrimps 457.49 1305.78
Sowbhagya Media Ltd. Shrimps 42.21 1279.72
Uniroyal Marine Exports Ltd. Shrimp 1018.81 750.46
Waterbase Ltd. Prawns 494.25 2071.27
Source: Prowess(2008)

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

Characteri Advantages Disadvantages


stic
Growth P. vannamei can grow as fast as P. Growth rate of P. vannamei slows
rate monodon up to 20 g and typically after reaching 20 g, making
grows faster (1-1.5 g/wk) than P. production of large-sized shrimp
monodon (1 g/wk) currently in slower.
Asia. Size range on harvest

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generally smaller.
P. vannamei is easier to culture in
Very high stocking densities require
very high densities (typically 60-
Stocking high control over pond/tank
150/m2, but up to 400/m2) than P.
density management practices and are high-
monodon and P. stylirostris which
risk strategies.
can be aggressive.
Although P. vannamei is
susceptible to WSSV, Asia is not P. vannamei is highly susceptible to
currently experiencing problems and a carrier of TSV, WSSV, YHV,
Disease from this virus; Survival rates IHHNV and LOVV.P. monodonis
resistance with P. vannamei are thus refractory to TSV and IHHNV. There
currently higher than with P. is currently no ability to select P.
monodon in Asia and production monodon for disease resistance.
is more predictable.
Post-
harvest If treated with ice, P. vannamei are Handling, transportation and
characteri resistant to melanosis. processing of P. monodon is easier.
stics
P. monodon and P. stylirostris can
Strong local demand for white grow to larger size, commanding
shrimp in Asia. Meat yield is higher price than P. vannamei. High
Marketing
higher for P. vannamei (66-68%) competition on international markets
than for P. monodon (62%) for P. vannamei as production is
world-wide.
P. vannamei is alien to Asia and their
importation may cause problems with
Origin None
import of new viruses and
contamination of local shrimp stocks.
No support from most countries since
they remain undecided on ban
Governm imports and farming of P. vannamei.
ent None Supply of broodstock and seed
support 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

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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.

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
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and focus on high-quality products and sustainability . 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

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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 Name
Bangladesh ShiMo Global Group ShiMo” and “Tokaii
Vietnam Vietdelta Industrial Co., Ltd Vietdelta

China Dragonbull Co.,Ltd Dragonbull


Japan Good Fortune Cold Storage Pmp & Lotus (Popular)Panda
( GFC ) Brand, Lucky 11 Brand & Lucky
7 Brand
Singapore Gold Coin Services Pte., Ltd. Gold Coin
Bio-Feed Industries Pte., Ltd. Bio-Feed
Sin Heng Chan (S) Pte., Ltd. Red Circle
Virginia Industries Pte., Ltd. Virginia
Indonesia - Your Name
Nikita, 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.

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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 Import Major Clients Attributes Consumer’s Consumer’s


Name Countries Looking for expectation Satisfaction
Minaxi EU, Japan Whole sellers Certificate, Organic Very Good
Fisheries & USA colour, size, Species and
(P) Ltd. freshness Certified
and SPS
Marine USA, Whole sellers Certificate Organic Good
Plaza Singapore, and Species
Malaysia freshness
and and frozen
Bangladesh
Allana China, Whole sellers Certificate Organic Very Good
Investments Japan, and Species
and Trading Vietnam freshness
and USA and SPS
Castlerrock EU, Japan Whole sellers Certificate Organic Very Good
Fisheries and China and Species
Pvt.Ltd freshness and
and SPS Certified
Indian EU, China Whole sellers, Consistency Organic Good
Seafood and Hoteliers and in quality Species
Corporation Singapore direct consumer
(selected clients)
Forstar EU, Japan Whole sellers, Consistency Organic Very Good
Frozen and China Hoteliers and in quality Species
Foods direct and SPS and
Pvt.Ltd consumer(selected Certified
clients)

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,

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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.

V. Identifying the Gaps and Opportunities

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

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES OPPORTUNITIES THREATS


Abundanent natural Unpredictable Local markets as well High compitition in
supply production output as global market global market
due to climatic
Low production influence The other countries
costs are also start to
Low financial culture and suppling
support form govt. in a low cost.

Internal compition Vietnam launched a


is very high. low cost cultured
variety(Vannamei)al
so famaous on brand
called Vietdelta.
Ongoing research for Very low technical
intensive technology level

Lack skilled labour


for processing,
which Japan,
Vietnam, USA ,
China etc, have.
High cost of Increased demand of
marketing marine shrimps and
prawns (tiger prawn)
Positive Investment needed Increasing Indian seafood
environmental to meet environmental products beginning
contribution for environmental concern and to face problem of
cultivating naturally standards (Central growing demand of bacterial
(fishing tactics and & East Europe organic sea food contanmination.
pond culture ) countries)

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Sustainable industry Differences in
Potential for an national legislation
environment friendly
intensive production Organic
certification not for
Indian product is highly intensive
largely organic systems

Certification cost
Good products and Lack of information Promote quality of
basic processesing and awareness for controlled production
quality farmers on logistic
issues.
Safe products Poor HACCP Safe product image Lack of information
implementation on HACCP (small
Easy control on HACCP can further businesses)
safety of production improve consumers’
confidence 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 Low fish Cheap imports of
concentration of the consumption in processed and
offer Central & East branded product
Europe countries . So from overseas
Poor organisation there is a potential for
of the producers growth

Failure in the Legal clarification


communication and distinction
strategy towards the between aquaculture
consumer to (inorganic) and
highlight the tiger capture fisheries
prawn benefit and (organic) and
differentiation from certification for
cultured prawn and organic product
other species

Enlargement of Loss of exsting

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product variety markets like US and
Stagnation in unit
value

VI. Strategy Recommendation

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.

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

Objective of Branding Strategy

• 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

18
"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.

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.

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Recommended Bradning Strategy for Indian Black Tiger Prawn

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:

Two pronged approach

Processing and value addition by Creation of brand


using the updated technology/ awarweness and strong
skilled labour unique brand associations

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.

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• 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.

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.

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• MPEDA can run selective co-operative advertising campaigns.
• 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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Personality:Close to nature/
Physique: Organic,
environment friendly, caring,
nutritious large & good
strong , Indian
flavour , striped, From
Natural Indian waters

Relationship: Culture: Simple,


Trustworthy, Friendly INDIMARINO classic, authentic and
TIGER transperent
PRAWN
Customers’ Reflection:
Those who prefer natural
products and are particular Customers’ Self-projection:
about their food choice, Top Connossieur, Discerning
Hotel and Resturent

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 :

23
Countries : EU-25, Japan, USA, Canada, UAE, Australia, S.Africa, China, Vietnam and
Malaysia are the major targeted countries of Indimarino-tiger.

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

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• 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

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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 .
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:

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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.

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