There's A New Macchi For D Mart
Best case studies for disruptive product marketing in India are the well known cases of washing powder Nirma and the Velvette sachet shampoo. These products sent the corporate marketing wizards of yester years scurrying for cover. Disruptive change in a niche market segment enables mass production, captures shelf space and the imagination of the people and shifts the production function to a higher and new dimensional plane in the market.
The recent call of Purushottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries to ensure Indian farmed shrimp find its way to the domestic market (D Mart) is timely. The Indian market for fish and seafood is on a bull run growing at more than 10 per cent recording a production of 162.48 lakh tones, all-time high exports of 13.69 lakh tonnes valued at Rs 57,587 crore dominated by exports of shrimps in 2021-22.
Studies show the D Mart for shrimp is restricted to size, 50 counts and more catering to a unorganized market size of 1 lakh ton per annum. Lower counts less than 50 are exported. Therefore there is a clear distinction in the sizes which service the domestic and the export markets. Though the absorptive capacity of the domestic market for lower count shrimp was exploited during Covid -19 times, it is felt that shrimp aquaculture specifically institutionalized for the export market as a consistent foreign exchange earner should not change tacks and cater to domestic market at the expense of the export market.
Fish and shrimp in the domestic market was lapped up during the Covid times thanks to the promotion received from the government as a rich source of iron, copper, protein, selenium, antioxidants, phosphorus, magnesium and vitamin B12. Shrimp also aids in weight loss, fights aging, improves bone health, eases menstrual pain and stems cardiovascular diseases. Consumption of a minimal amount of 85 grams of shrimp per meal is encouraged.
What makes a new food product take off in the Indian market? Cut back to the 1990s, with the advent of the New Economic Policy 1991 and WTO free trade policies Information Technology (IT) sector also opened up in the mid 90s leading to a slow and steady transformation of the socio-economic, cultural, and migration pattern of young qualified upwardly mobile IT professionals, investment bankers and their ilk. Time was at a premium and the young professionals with income to spare hardly had the time to cook and eat. Fast food restaurants and western cuisine came in through the pizza wave, built entirely on dynamic marketing. The popularity of Pizza Hut, Domino Pizzas followed by Subway and others beat regular restaurants hollow. While poultry and mutton found favor among the restaurateurs, fish and shrimp lagged in restaurateur preference owing to their lower shelf life, handling issues besides odor and additional investment required on exclusive cold storage facilities and special culinary skills. Fish and shrimp as a nutritious food had local urban consumer acceptance but did not yield market space, as the clientele were more interested in being seen in the flashy restaurants than cared for what they ate. Since then and even now, shrimp remains an export item while fresh fish was a home-made item of food or, at best, found favor among clientele in restaurants in states of West Bengal and Kerala. Now, shrimp produced in saline soils of Punjab and Haryana are picked up by processors in Kerala for exports and only a small portion of the produce finds its way to elite Delhi hotels.
The domestic market for shrimp was always held back by absence of any forward linkages and the lackluster investment interest. Moreover the sector was then plagued by complete collapse of the production system owing to the rampage of the WSS virus, which short circuited entire corporate investments and innovations that had stormed into this sun rise sector in the 90's. But the scenario has changed with the start-up scenario in this sector now being very innovative and is networking the domestic market to ensure faster delivery of products by streamlining practices that improves logistics, storage and on site processing that will ensure cost efficiency, reduce spoilage and enable fair margins. Lately, disruptive IT technologies are playing a pivotal role in the transparency and control in supply chain. Harvesting, temperature monitored transportation systems and storage infrastructure are areas that are fast getting digitally controlled.
Though it does appear a great idea to exploit the latent domestic market for shrimp in India, it does not seem wise to increase output via horizontal expansion of area under culture as it could imply serious implications on the carbon footprint generated by fresh investments in shrimp farming. The carbon footprints of individual species from capture fisheries and aquaculture have been reported to range 1-3 kg carbon dioxide/kg meat and 2-7 kg carbon dioxide/kg meat, respectively (GSA).
In the latest scenario, India, with a Climate Performance Index (CPI) score of 0.76, is the leader among the G20 nations striving to mitigate climate change, India's sincere efforts towards mitigating the climate crisis are being highlighted at a time when the country is helming the G20 nations as its president. In this context, we need to evolve out of the box strategies that would ensure development and diversification of domestic market for shrimp.
India would do well earning few more CPI brownie points in the development of the domestic market for shrimp by eliminating the carbon footprint that accompany fresh shrimp farm development and biodiversity displacements in horizontal shrimp production expansion. Taking into consideration the nature of the Indian markets for fish and fish products including shrimp, it is important to promote a product in this segment that caters to fish palette of the Indian consumer, is stable, has good shelf life, amenable to spicy home cooking, restaurant presentation and is reasonably priced. The India plant-based meat market is projected to register a growth rate (CAGR) of 26.3 per cent during 2023-2028. Similar to "Imagine Meats", the celebrity plant based meat brand, already making serious inroads in urban markets, the Indian alternative seafood firm, Seaspire, is offering bio-printed plant based snapper fillets. Other companies are on the anvil to bring plant based shrimp to the Indian menu. A kink in the presentation of shrimp to the consumer in both the urban and rural markets could not only by pass the requirements of marketing linkages essential for delivery of fresh shrimp to the consumer but also serve the national objective of taking a wholesome food product to the market that should appeal to the booming food industry. Singapore and Israel are the leaders in this segment and have found consumer acceptance riding the tag of environmental protection.
The official institutional architecture that is currently marshalling Indian fish industry and conducting number of investor conclaves would do well to invite plant based and cell culture based fish and meat industry to the table, enabling the sector to fast track India's contribution to achieving climate change goals and deliver technology driven shrimp / fish products that would make a sea change in the D Mart.
M Krishnan is former Principal Scientist & Head, ICAR - Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai.
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