Geeta's Foods - The Interview
The Geeta's Foods success story is an inspiration all round, for consumers seeking new heights of meal time pleasure, and for aspiring food producers coming into the market. The company's prosperity is testimony to the passion and continuing enthusiasm of Geeta's founder Geeta Samtani for helping UK consumers experience the real taste of India. The Geeta's story started in the early 90's, when Geeta was persuaded to sell the mango chutney she made for her family and friends, and the first Geeta's-branded retail product, Geeta's Premium Mango Chutney, quickly wowed food lovers and retail buyers alike. Supermarket listings soon followed, and Geeta's became a household name.
 Nearly 15 years later, Geeta's Foods is a well established business, and remains family-owned and run, ensuring the ultimate authenticity and quality for the growing range of Geeta's-branded chutneys, pickles and sauces and other Indian food products. Anita Samtani, Geeta's daughter and a director of Geeta's Foods, spoke to The Grocery Trader.
Geeta's day to day management in 2008 are Geeta, her husband Beni and Anita, their elder daughter, who has grown up in the business and remembers the early days with mangoes all over her mother's kitchen.
According to Anita Samtani, Geeta's Foods still works in much the same way as when Geeta's Premium Mango Chutney first came out of the kitchen and onto retailers' shelves. They continue to make all their chutneys and pickles in Gujarat, and use manufacturing partners in the UK for their sauces.
"The scale is much bigger these days, but we still have total control," says Anita. "We work very closely with our production colleagues, to the point where they're part of our family. It's the same with all our staff. Geeta's began as a family business; now it's an extended family."
Geeta herself heads up NPD, sourcing of ingredients and production, and Anita does the marketing and PR. Nitesh Shah, operations manager, makes sure goods are produced and go to market on schedule. "When we decide on a particular NPD plan, it's done with the same level of research as any other food company," Anita emphasises.
Also bringing their expertise to bear are category manager Sally Campbell, and technical and NPD manager Dr. Caroline Holroyd. Sally's CV pre-Geeta's includes various blue chip food companies: Caroline has worked with Geeta for many years. These long-standing working relationships are crucial to Geeta's making its products with love and passion.
The flagship product Geeta's Premium Mango Chutney hasn't changed over the years, Anita observes, and Geeta's continues to be a premium brand, offering authenticity, innovation and the closest possible experience to homemade Indian food. "Geeta's name is on everything we do, and consumers like to think they know her personally," says Anita.
Geeta's core consumers are ABC1s, but the net is widening rapidly: "British consumers are more aware now of what they're eating and what things are made of, and are prepared to pay more for quality. They're eating out more, too, so they know about different cuisines, and when it comes to Indian they look to us to help them discover new tastes beyond the obvious."
 The ethnic audience recognises Geeta's authenticity, too. Geeta's concentrates on supplying the mainstream multiples, and increasingly Asians buy their products in these stores as part of their weekly shop.
Geeta's burst onto the grocery scene in the early 1990's. Could a small company like Geeta's come through in 2008? "You can't rule out a breakthrough small company, even now," says Anita, " but it takes longer these days to assess commercially how a product will sell. The UK is well served for ethnic foods," she observes. "You can still innovate in the mainstream market, backed by proper research. We may be small, compared to other companies, but we're very astute."
The proof is in the eating. Geeta's regularly comes top in competitive tests, with recent triumphs including Spice & Stir Sauces doing well in Good Housekeeping's panels (Silver Award) and the Times and BBC Good Food Taste Tests bringing victory for Geeta's Premium Mango Chutney. Geeta's was also a finalist for their Cardamom Korma Spice & Stir Cooking Sauce in the recent Grocer Branded Excellence Awards.
Geeta's brand and individual product sales are growing, driven by the migration to premium products, the emergence of more discerning consumers, the rise and rise of Indian food, and the versatility of the Geeta's brand. Some 65% of Geeta's turnover is chutneys. Despite the fast growth of its sauces and the rest of its portfolio, Geeta's continues to be best known for chutneys, and has 7% of this market, where it is a recognised premium brand.
From a trade buyer's point of view, what sets Geeta's apart from other producers of Indian food products on the busy UK shelves is its authenticity, premium quality, wholesome ingredients and strong brand loyalty. Geeta's is a signal brand for the Indian category that shoppers look for in-store.
In our conversation Anita quotes a recent Mintel report concluding that versatility needs to be marketed, and market growth is riding on a wave of adventurism of the palate. "Geeta's addresses this spirit of adventure with its products," says Anita, "while satisfying the demand for tried and trusted favourites like Premium Mango Chutney." The adventure is in the taste experience of products: the recipe, provenance or the dish's history is explained, reassuringly, on the label.
Geeta's first entered the cooking sauces market in 2001 with a Regional range including Mumbai, Goan, Delhi and Makhani, from Punjab, offering a more unusual and indigenous choice of curry sauces. Launched in tandem, the Curry Creation range of cooking pastes requires consumers to add one or two ingredients such as coconut milk. Geeta's two-step Spice & Stir range has become a mainstay of the Indian sauces fixture, and is now Geeta's core sauce offering. All three give a different experience.
The latest three Geeta's Spice & Stir varieties are Cardamom Korma, Madras and Dopiaza. Cardomom is a prevalent spice in Northern Indian cuisine, and Korma is Britain's most popular Indian variety: people's heat levels have increased, making Madras a must-have: and Dopiaza, meaning Two Onions, is another popular favourite from North India.
Geeta's lift the lid on chutney sales
Probably Geeta's biggest news this spring is the new Geeta's Squeezy Chutneys - Premium Mango, Spicy Lime and Tomato & Onion, in squeezy bottle format packs, developed in-house and produced in India.
 "We saw squeezy bottles' success in other categories, and recognised them as the perfect way for consumers to extend their enjoyment of chutney beyond curry time," says Anita. "Squeezy bottles attract younger consumers, and communicate everyday enjoyment."
The only change to the Geeta's Premium Mango recipe to offer it in the Squeezy format is to make the mango pieces smaller so they go through the lid. Tomato & Onion Squeezy Chutney is an all-new variety, born out of research: Spicy Lime delivers all the taste of Geeta's Lime & Chilli Chutney, with a gentler heat for 'squeezy' enjoyment.
Anita expects the new squeezy bottles to bring in new consumers, and for Geeta's to continue to sell chutneys in jars for the foreseeable future: "I'd love dual siting for 'Squeezy' with sauces, BBQs and condiments - it's up to individual accounts how far they want to explore. We'll be actively demonstrating usage ideas to consumers: being more convenient means more usage, and more sales."
As a responsible food company, Geeta's are mindful of today's health concerns. Everything in the range is made from natural ingredients, with no artificial flavourings, colourings or preservatives. All Geeta's products are suitable for vegetarians, and many are suitable for vegans. "We're a family business and good nutrition is at the heart of everything we do," Anita points out. "The need to eat a balanced diet and in moderation underpins our NPD."
Three quarters of Geeta's sales go through the multiple grocers. Sally Campbell heads this up, working closely with Geeta's distributors for many years, RH Amar & Company Limited, an important and integral part of Geeta's extended family.
Foodservice is a smaller part of Geeta's business, but they do supply a variety of chutneys, primarily Mango and Tamarind, to the top Indian restaurants and service the rest of the trade through cash 'n' carries.
Online sales started a year ago and are growing steadily: "You can't find all our products in every retailer, but you can buy them on line. We supply mainland UK orders within five days."
A household name for 15 years, Geeta's has won its share of honours over the years, collecting numerous Great Taste Awards for its chutneys and a Silver Q Award for its Pudina Tikka Spice & Stir sauce. Among today's famous foodies, Anthony Worrall-Thompson likes the chutneys, and curry enthusiast Pat Chapman is a good friend. If further endorsement were needed, "Geeta is a star in her own right," Anita points out. "She's a wife and mother as well, and that care goes into the jar."
The key to Geeta's success is trial. In the UK Geeta's carry out regular in-store promotions highlighting both chutneys and sauces, and advertise in retailer magazines. They also run an annual road show, taking in the Great Yorkshire Show, Badminton Horse Trials, the BBC Good Food Show, the Festival of Food and other up-market fixtures, important points of contact for new customers.
Geeta's products are exported to many markets including Germany, France, Norway, Portugal, Greece, Hong Kong and the USA. The main purchasers there are Europeans, says Anita, rather than Brits based abroad or Indian ex-pats. Geeta's Export Manager Roland Scott is charged with identifying the opportunities for each market: "We have had a lot of help from Food from Britain," says Anita, "especially FFB Germany, who have been instrumental in securing a new retailer coming on board in the spring of 2008." Geeta's are showcased by their distributors RH Amar at UK-based international trade events like IFE and the Fine Food Fair and major foreign trade shows SIAL and ANUGA with FFB.
The creativity that has brought Geeta's this far will soon be taking it into linked promotions with non-competing, complementary 'Indian' food and drink brands. The first of these is a joint activity with Cobra Beer in Booth's Supermarkets, in the North West of England, dedicated to promoting curry culture to the region's consumers.
"It's hard to compete for attention with the bigger Indian food brands," says Anita, "because of their massive promotional budgets. But once people taste our products, they become loyal fans."
Moving forward, Geeta's ambitions for the brand include more new product launches in autumn and winter 2008. These will add to the existing ranges and maintain the level of innovation. Their longer-term vision is equally bright: "We want significant growth in the next five years," says Anita, "and the growing consumer interest in the provenance of the food we eat can only benefit us. Geeta's brand values and consumer franchise will continue to grow, and we will build on our excellent relationships with our manufacturing and distribution partners. Geeta's are well established, focused on quality and innovation, and we communicate with our customers and our consumers, the ideal recipe for success all round."
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For further information please contact:
Geeta's distributors
R.H. Amar & Company Limited
Tel: 01494 530200
www.rhamar.com |
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