Sucral-owais Uzair Amer

1. INTRODUCTION: For many people, sugar in coffee or baked goods isn't an option. This can be due to weight watching or for health related matters. Other reasons include diabetes and health consciousness. According to an article published in The Daily Times, currently in Pakistan, over 8.8 million people are suffering from diabetes. A survey estimates that the figure is likely to touch 14.3 million by 2025 if adequate measures are not taken to check the growth. Fortunately; there are a variety of sugar substitutes in the market for one to choose from. Sucral is the latest brand launched as a sugar substitute in Pakistan by Father & Sons Company. Sucral is exciting news for people with diabetes, because it can help them to enjoy the sweet taste of foods and beverages again, without all the calories and carbohydrates of sugar. The no calorie sweetening ingredient in Sucral (sucralose), is not recognized by the body as a carbohydrate and has been shown in studies to have no effect on blood glucose control or insulin levels. Yet it is 600 times sweeter than sugar. Sucral has entered a saturated market where it is surrounded by many competitors, both local and international. The competitors include Canderel, Sweet and Low, Splenda, Calnox, Sweetmor and Equal.

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2. VALUE PROPOSITION: The core benefit provided by the brand is that it is a substitute for sugar and provides zero calorie sweetness for health conscious and diabetic people. This artificial sweetener contains the element sucralose. Sucralose remains stable under heat unlike other elements used by its competitors for artificial sweetness such as aspartame, Ace-k and cyclamate. Due to this element it can also be used for cooking and baking which gives it a competitive edge over other market players.

Where Sucral’s competitors have emphasized on the use of their products in tea and sprinkling on food etc, it has stressed upon being used in baking and cooking. The augmented benefits of Sucral are that it can be used as a family product as is portrayed in its advertisement; the adults are health conscious, the children like sweet foods and house wives may want to cook food which is low on carbohydrates for each of which Sucral can be used.

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3. CULTURAL VALUES: Hospitality is a very important cultural value in Pakistan. Offering tea and serving sweet dishes to guests are some of the predominant factors in the Pakistani culture. The consumption of tea and sweet dishes is very common in the country and they are also served as a symbol of hospitality. People in this country generally love to eat and are more inclined towards the use of sweet dishes on different occasions such as eid, birthdays, and weddings and also during the month of Ramadan. This has led to unhealthy conditions and increase in obesity amongst the public. Recent figures based on a study conducted by the diabetic association of Pakistan showed that on the body mass index (BMI) 37% of men with diabetes and 79% of women were obese. According to the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), 79% of men with diabetes and 96% of women had central obesity. Thus, the consumers in Pakistan are becoming health conscious and there has been an increase in the number of people who are conscious about there diet, other than that diabetes is also more or less common in old aged people. Consumers today are seeking for products with fewer calories. Consumer have become aware of these facts and Good health care values have observed a rising trend in the past two decades in socio economic class A and B in Pakistan. Sucral has associated its image with this value. Sucral may be used as part of a healthy diet that includes a variety of nutritious foods in moderate portions because Sucral tastes like sugar, has no calories and is ideal for cooking and baking, it helps meet consumer demand for good-tasting foods and beverages without the calories of sugar. It is as the tagline suggests “Ab meetha… No problem”.

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4. MARKETING MIX: Sucral is basically targeted towards all health conscious people. Sucral is a substitute for sugar and therefore it is a household product. The purchase of Sucral in any household is also influenced by the fact that the woman of the house wants healthy families. The brand apart from emphasizing upon zero calories has also shown that it can also be purchased for its usage in cooking and baking. Therefore the target market of Sucral is both health conscious people and housewives. Sucral currently has only two SKUs. It is available in a bottle of 80g and also in sachet pack. The target market of sucral lies in socio economic class A and B. Consumers from these classes are mostly urbanized health conscious people and therefore the bottle of sucral is priced around Rs. 230 for its 80g bottle and the sachet pack of sucral is priced at Rs. 145 which contains 50 sachets. Sucral is placed in supermarkets in the pharmaceutical portion. It is placed there because it is a product for health care and diet. Its placement in the pharmacy portion also ensures its safety and reliability. Another reason for it being placed in the pharmaceutical portion of super stores is that low calorie sweeteners are often referred by doctors to their patients. Sucral has gained promotion mainly by its advertisements. Its advertisements are done through billboards and electronic media. The ads are shown on selective TV channels and are also displayed through the cable operators in the areas of their target market for example on World call.

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5. COMPETITOR’S ANALYSIS:

Sucral has many competitors in the market but its major competitor and the market leader is Canderel. Canderel is a product of Searle Pakistan Ltd. For over two decades now Canderel has dominated the sweetener category and has maintained its leadership position despite various attempts from competition. It has a share of over 90%. It has been very successful and has built a large consumer base. Canderel is available both in tablets and powder form. Canderel has a drawback as compared to sucral that if it is heated for long then it loses its sweetness therefore it can not be used in cooking and baking and can only be used in drinks and sprinkling on food. Other than canderel, the products in the market do not have much of a market share. Among the other products in the market are calnox, sweet n low and splenda. The reasons why these products do not have a greater market share are that canderel gained recognition through the support of pharmacists and doctors who lauded the health benefits of the low-calorie sweetener. Canderel has developed a good name internationally and its superior taste has resulted in significant market share for the product.

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6. OPPORTUNITES AND THREATS: Sucral has a great opportunity to progress in the Pakistan market with the increasing amount of diabetic and health conscious people in Pakistan. The added value of being able to be used in cooking and baking makes Sucral different from other sweeteners. People are demanding a greater variety of low-calorie products as they strive to make healthier food choices. Sucral can help meet this demand because its combination of sugar-like taste and excellent stability make it uniquely suited for numerous products, many of which have been previously unavailable in a reduced calorie, reduced sugar form. Sucralose can be used to create whole new categories of food and beverage products, such as reduced-calorie cookies, cakes, ice cream toppings, and fruit and pie fillings. It can also be used to expand markets for existing low-calorie products, such as jams and jellies, chewing gum, and carbonated soft drinks. The availability of sucralose will expand the market to provide products with improved taste, increased stability, lower manufacturing costs, and, ultimately, more choices for consumers. The major threats to Sucral are its competitors and the market leader Canderel. Sucral has a bright future ahead but it needs a big effort to make a good name in the presence of Canderel and obtain a substantial market share.

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7. APPENDIX: www.brandsynario.com www.rxlist.com www.canderel.co.za www.dailytimes.com.pk www.dap.org.pk www.wikipedia.com

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