EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
From the dimmest of history when around 2727 B.C. a few leaves of a wild shrub tea blew into the royal bowl of boiling water being sipped by the legendary Emperor Shah Nung, known as the Divine Husbander as well as a patron of arts. Tapal Tea here brought tea from the royal bowl to the common man's cups as the most sought after beverage the country over.
Under the management of the founder's son, Faizullah A. Tapal, the company continued to grow and innovate. Currently it is being managed by the founder's grandson, Aftab F.Tapal who has continued giving further strength to the foundations of quality laid by his family. After studying abroad, Aftab F.Tapal returned to introduce professional management and unique production ideas into the business. His progressive outlook resulted in the total automation of the tea plants in Karachi.
Their motto "never compromise on quality" remains the byword on the lips of all engaged in producing Tapal Tea that has resulted in customer's brand loyalty and their unflinching addiction. The testimony of their quality has made them the first tea company in Pakistan to earn the ISO-9001: 2000 Quality Certification, the symbol of supreme quality standards.
Pioneer of the Danedar category in Pakistan, Tapal's Danedar remains a firm favorite around the country with its grape-nutty appearance, rich golden color and a strong refreshing taste. In fact its popularity is such that several multinationals have launched their own versions, but Tapal remains the original and ultimate Danedar because of its unique color, aroma and taste. Color and a strong refreshing taste are its most significant attributes.
Tapal is proud to have been a part of Pakistan's history since its inception. As a company they have grown and flourished together with the great nation. Founded by Adam Ali Tapal, the company first started marketing a number of quality blends to Pakistani consumer market.through continuous innovation and research and development they gain a big share of Pakistani market. They still are growing and hope to be a leader in a market in coming years.
INTRODUCTION
DISCOVERY OF TEA
In 2727 B.C Chinese Emperor Shen-Nung was boiling drinking water when a few leaves of a wild tea tree blew into the royal bowl. He discovered that the leaves imparted a delightful flavor to his water; and so it became his favored drink.
It is probable that tea was first cultivated in China, though it is possible that people in Thailand and Burma have used it for as long as the Chinese have. The China tea plant was taken to Japan in about AD 800, where it was regarded as a medicine for several hundred years, until green tea was developed to become a popular beverage. Tea was introduced into England, as a gift from the British East India Company, in about AD 1660 and to rest to Europe soon thereafter.
By the end of the 19th century, China still supplied the bulk of the world’s tea. In 1886 it exported 136 million kg, of which 77 million kg went to Britain; while India produced 40 million kg. But within a few years India moved ahead of China in world trade. Ceylon (Sri Lanka) emerged as a tea producer in 1867 and Java (now part of Indonesia) in 1878.
Today, traditional tea growing countries of China India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Japan have been joined by many others in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador) and Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, and Mozambique).
Tea is generally considered the oldest prepared beverage. Whatever its colour (black, green, yellow or white, depending on how it has been processed), tea can be produced from three main varieties: camellia sinensiss, camellia sinensis assamic and camellia seinensis cambodiensis. When the tea tree grows under natural conditions, it is evergreen and can reach 10 to 15 meters, but when it is cultivated in gardens (the name given to tea plantation worldwide), its height is artificially limited to one meter in order to facilitate the pickers. Tea trees are grown mainly in tropical and subtropical regions with humidity of 70 to 90 per cent. Rainfalls must be abundant and regularly distributed throughout the year, with a yearly average of 1,500 to 2,500 millimetres.
PRODUCTION
Leaves can be picked by hand or mechanically. Manual picking yields leaves of higher quality. Picking is generally done according to the maturity of the leaves (from the top to the bottom of the tree, as a rule), and three levels of quality can be distinguished:
* Imperial picking involves picking only the terminal bud (Pekoe) and the first leave.
* Fine picking involves picking the terminal bud and the first two leaves.
* Classical picking, the main technique used today, includes the terminal bud plus three to four leaves.
Because of the product's perishable nature, final processing must occur as soon as possible after the leaves are picked, and special care is required during transportation and storage. The average yield per hectare from 1990 to 2003 was around 1.2 metric tons, with yields in leading producing countries being 1.4 tons per hectare in Sri Lanka and 2 tons per hectare in Kenya. Black tea is the only kind of tea that is subject to international quality regulations. It is classified according to two main methods: orthodox and crushing/tearing/curling (CTC). Within both categories tealeaves are classified into sub-categories, with the best quality represented by the pekoe and the condition of the pekoe and the lowest by the dust of leaves.
HISTORY OF TAPAL TEA
The journey of Tapal's remarkable success is the combined efforts of three dynamic generations of the Tapal Family. In 1947, Tapal started out as a family concern under the personal supervision of its founder, Adam Ali Tapal.
Against tough competition Adam Ali's unique blend, later named Family Mixture, became a hot favorite and eventually the largest selling brand in the unorganized tea market. From this auspicious beginning, Tapal moved from success to success introducing tea brands to suit every taste and pocket, sold from its
retail outlet in Jodia Bazar, Karachi. The quality of Tapal teas soon became legendary and people from all parts of Karachi started lining up at the outlet to purchase tea. For their convenience,
Tea distribution was initiated to retail outlets around the city. The company continued to grow under the management of the founder's son, Faizullah A. Tapal.
Today Tapal Tea is managed by the founder's grandson, Aftab F. Tapal. After studying abroad, Aftab Tapal returned to Pakistan to introduce professional management and unique production ideas to the business. A well trained tea taster and tea connoisseur himself, Aftab Tapal introduced new tea concepts and developed a wide range of tea blends catering specifically to the tastes of people throughout Pakistan. His progressive outlook resulted in giving further strength to the foundation of quality laid by his family.
Making a modest beginning over half a century back, today Tapal has become the largest, 100% Pakistani owned Tea Company in the country. It has modern tea blending and packaging factories, warehouses equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and a team of highly dynamic professionals headed by Aftab Tapal himself.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
MARKET SUMMARY
Tea is the cheapest and most popular beverage that is served at both professional and social gatherings all over the world. In Pakistan it is counted as a staple food item of common man and is an integral part of our culture and heritage. Due to these causes Pakistan consumes an substantial quantity of tea.
Tea is Pakistan's favorite hot beverage. Although efforts have been made to cultivate tea in the mountainous areas, the projects could not achieve the desired results. Under this scenario, tea imports rose from approximately US$ 120 million in 1998-99 to US$210 million in 1999-00, showing an increase of over 65 per cent. Its imports were US$173 million in 2002-03.and still it’s increasing.
The above chart shows that the total tea market present in Pakistan is 150,000 tons and the organized market show 80,000 tons and the unorganized show 70,000 tons. Here organized depicts the market owned by the brands and unorganized depicts that this portion is owned by the loose tea. The main competitor for organized tea market is the unorganized tea market present in Pakistan. Almost
MARKET SHARE PICTURE
Our main focus is on organized tea market. Where different companies like UNILEVER and TAPAL are holding the main market share. Some other companies also present in the market but having very low share of the market.
· Unilever Pakistan limited has 43% market share.
· Tapal private limited has 41% market share.
· Vital tea limited has 6% market share.
· Tetley has 4% market share
· The remaining 6% belongs to other market share in the organized market.
Unorganized market also captures a good market share in the total tea market of Pakistan. 70000 tons out of 150000 consumption is of unorganized tea.71% of total population of Pakistan are living in rural areas. Due to illiteracy and lack of awareness they are consuming unorganized tea which is mainly affecting the organized tea market. Due to this they are enjoying a very big market share of the total tea market.
Organized segment mainly depend on the imported tea. Mainly big players are importing tea from different countries like Kenya, uk, Bangladesh. Last some year’s imported figures for Pakistan is described in the chart below.
Unorganized tea is mainly smuggled from different neighbor countries of Pakistan. That’s why it has a large proportion in total consumption of tea in Pakistan which is 70000 tons of total 150000 tons.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
The main competitor of Tapal is the Unilever Pakistan which has the 43% of market share with its different brands as
· Yellow Label
· Supreme
· Red Rose
· Pearl Dust
Yellow label has the sale volume of almost 10000 per ton and its other brand Supreme with the lead 16000 per ton. Its lead is due to more rural and small towns which this brand is targeting. Overall the Unilever has the sale volume per ton of almost 34000. A-one kark is also another brand targeted to the rural areas
COMPANY ANALYSIS
A commitment to quality
"Never compromise on quality" has been the motto at Tapal since the very beginning. This commitment to quality has resulted in a high level of customer satisfaction and unflinching brand loyalty. In December 1997, Tapal Tea became the first Pakistani Tea Company to earn the ISO-9001 certification: a symbol of the highest international quality standards. Again in December 2000, Tapal acquired the ISO9001: 2000 certification, making it one of the first few companies in the world to achieve this milestone. In addition to the standard requirements, the ISO9001: 2000 certification system includes requirements for environment improvement, concepts of TQM (continuous improvement) with major emphasis on consumer requirements and satisfaction.
Brands
The reason behind Tapal’s success in catching the hearts of the consumers is that, it has always been close to them. This has been possible because of its strong Brand Activation Activities. These activities have added a new dimension to their marketing activities making them more attractive, exciting and interactive as possible.
These activities not only reinforce Tapal as a national company but also assist all its other brands in having their desired impact wherever required. These activities are customized according the brand requirements to achieve maximum results. Not only this, these activities also provide the consumer with a 360-degree product experience, which not only helps in educating the consumer but also engages them to the brand. These activities cover Outdoor Billboards, Event Marketing, Road Shows (floats, mobile kitchens etc), Rural Development Programs, Weekly Bazaars, and Merchandizing of the products.
Brand Descriptions
TAPAL DANEDAR
As evident by its name the blend consists of well made premium quality Kenyan BP1s (granules). Each component of Danedar blend is carefully selected to provide a lovely looking leaf appearance that is neat, black, grainy and fairly even.
Danedar blend is an excellent combination of lively taste and distinct flavor of world’s best high grown teas, which produces satisfying cup of tea for the consumers who like aromatic/flavor tea.
The most important feature of this top quality Danedar brand is that the characteristics of a brewed cup remain intact even after a long time.
Simply, Danedar is a powerful brand and a great value product and there is no real substitute of it.
Gulbahar
Tapal Gulbahar, the Chinese premium quality Green Tea blend is the favorite green tea among all age group. Due to its numerous health benefits, Gulbahar has become the best selling Green Tea brand in Pakistan. Tapal Gulbahar is also the first choice for the popular Kashmiri Tea consumers.
Tapal Special Tea Bags
The unique flavor of high grown leaves especially selected from the finest tea gardens in the world make Tapal Special Teabags a treat at any time. The combination of an extra strong blend with the convenience of environmental friendly metal-free tea bags has made Tapal Special an instant hit with consumers.
Tapal Safari
Tapal Safari is a tea which is serving its consumer base for almost past one decade it is made from the finest Kenya leaf teas and provides extra cup page of great tasting tea to the consumer. Tapal Safari chai, with its new Lion theme, is aimed at adventurous, brave and for those who prefers to have a strong cup of tea.
Tapal has 9 brands. Its sales volume per ton is 32000. Danedar is the brand with the high sales revenue and specially against the yellow label. Following brand is Mezban with the most 8500 per ton specially for the area of Sindh province. Family mix, tezdum, chainak are the following one with some different sales revenue and different markets as well.
MARKETING SEGMENTATION
As a whole when we see the market of tea in Pakistan, although it is not clearly segmented but, Tapal did this thing very accurately that it segmented the market very accurately. Its 9 brands in the current clearly shows the potential of each brand in each segment define by the company. They clearly look at the nature and extent of diversity of buyers needs and wants in a market. This thing offers a great opportunity for Tapal to focus its business capabilities on the requirement of one or more groups of buyers.
The main objective of this segmentation is to examine differences in needs and wants and to identify the segments within the product market of interest.
CONTINUOUS LEARNING ABOUT MARKETS
In order to survive in the market you must have continuous learning about the market. Tapal did it very efficiently as their innovation shows this. They have the ability and they utilize it beautifully. Their continuous learning make them a real competitor against an international recognize brands like supreme, lipton etc.
Tapal Chai Family Mixture is the pride of Tapal developed by the forefathers in 1947 and thus creating a new category of Mixture in the tea market. It is the blend that started the Tapal success story, and now other tea companies are following Tapal’s footsteps by entering the market with similar blends. Danedar Leaf Blend Pioneer of the Danedar category in Pakistan, Tapal’s Danedar remains a firm favorite around the country with its grape-nutty appearances, rich golden color and a strong refreshing taste. Tea is part of culture in this region and now Tapal has become an integral part of this tradition with an unparalleled grace of its own.
Pioneers of soft packaging
Technology is also harnessed at Tapal to benefit the consumer. From the very beginning, Tapal realized the importance of importing innovative technologies such as the soft packing process. A fully automatic facility was established where soft packs were produced for the first time in Pakistan.
At this facility tea is blended and packed in hygienic conditions, untouched by human hands whilst the soft packing technology keeps tea fresh and packaging costs economical. The success of these soft packs has been such that other tea companies have also followed Tapal's lead and launched some of their brands in soft packaging. And their other innovations are
· The first to introduce soft packs in the country.
· The first tea company to introduce metal-free tea bags.
The first to develop an entirely new blend and category-Tapal Family Mixture(the mixture of leaf & dust).
· The first to invent the highly successful brand Danedar Leaf Blend.The first to market Kenya teas in Pakistan.
· The first tea company to be awarded the ISO 9001/2000 Quality Certification
As a step towards backward integration Tapal has begun tea plantation at Shinkiari in the northern region of Pakistan. This project aims at providing jobs, saving the country's valuable foreign exchange and is a significant step towards self-sufficiency. Tapal is also the 1st national tea company to export tea to the UAE, Canada and USA. This is again a pioneering step towards increasing value-added exports and is also a fast developing source of foreign exchange for the country.
Their R&D department making great innovations in the tea industry. Which really making Tapal now soon as a leader in the organized tea market of Pakistan.
MARKET TRENDS
Trends are now changing. If we see the consumers of tea firstly they are using or you can say addicted of the generic tea which is the black one but now the trend is changing. Consumers now want something different in taste now as the competition is getting higher. Consumer of tea wants some new flavors in tea because now their taste is changing as the time is changing so trend is changing in the market. And Tapal utilize this trend very accurately as their innovations show us everything. Tapal meezban, tanedar, safari, and specially round metal free tea bags and last but not the least Tapal ice tea shows that as the trend is changing in the market Tapal also using this trend in the form of new innovations.
MARKET GROWTH
Industry is now on the maturity stage. Large players has established their brands in the market and enjoyed huge profit margins. Now they are looking towards product differentiation and multi segmentation because consumers are now more taste conscious and looking for variety available to them in a tea market.
SWOT ANALYSIS
T
The industrial swot analysis of the tea market is as under
Situation Analysis
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Internal Analysis \
External Analysis
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Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
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SWOT Profile
The internal and external situation analysis can produce a large amount of information, much of which may not be highly relevant. The SWOT analysis can serve as an interpretative filter to reduce the information to a manageable quantity of key issues. The SWOT analysis classifies the internal aspects of the company as strengths or weaknesses and the external situational factors as opportunities or threats. Strengths can serve as a foundation for building a competitive advantage, and weaknesses may hinder it. By understanding these four aspects of its situation, a firm can better leverage its strengths, correct its weaknesses, capitalize on golden opportunities, and deter potentially devastating threats.
Strengths
The strength of the company would be the innovation and the high quality products. Because of these the company is able to survive in the market and still earning a good market share comparing to its competitors.
Opportunities
One of the greatest opportunity that Tapal has its huge market which is increasing as the population is increasing. Tea has become a staple product in Pakistan which cannot be denied at 20 to 60 year of age.
Per capita consumption is almost 1kg according to a recent research in Pakistan.
Weaknesses
No major weaknesses were mentioned by the authorities of Tapal but its intense competition as our analysis is one of their weaknesses as to stay alive against a giant as Unilever and the other one new entrant as Tetley.
Threats
One of the major threats that Tapal has it is its area of the market which is not educated and it is using the loose tea which may not be good for their health as well. Tapal claims that it is not possible for them to create such a big awareness for them but the Government should play his role so that these people should have some awareness of the imported loose tea.
Internal Factors | Strengths | Weaknesses |
Management | Experienced, broad base of interests and knowledge | Large size may lead to conflicting interests |
Product Line | Differentiated, Variation in products | So much product lines but still not able to knock out loose tea. |
Marketing | Diverse, and local awareness | May lose focus, may not be segmented enough |
Personnel | Very experienced, high knowledge | Possible conflicts due to so many people, possible trouble staying focused |
Finance | High sales revenue, high sale growth, large capital base | High expenses, may have trouble balancing cash-flows of such a large operation |
Research & Development | Continuous efforts to research trends an reinforce creativity | Sometimes they conduct research but the advantage is taken over by small competitors. |
External Factors | Opportunities | Threats |
Consumer/Social | Increase in the population | Illiterate people go for loose tea which is substandard as well |
Competitive | Distinctive name, product and packaging in with regards to its markets | Intense competition can pay so they have to keep eyes open |
Technological | Maintenance of proper website which subscribes and provides information regarding long production line. | Competitors are global leaders so they have more technology as compared to Tapal |
Economic | Consumer income is high for the danedar class | Very elastic demand, almost pure competition |
COMPETITION LEVEL
DIRECT COMPETITION of Tapal tea is with lipton yellow label tea.
Indirect competition of Tapal is with coffee, loose tea and other flavoured teas.
Generic competition includes all the generic products which can fulfill consumers generic needs.
Last one is budget competition that includes the alternatives.
The following diagram shows the level of competition of Tapal danedar.
DISTINCTIVE CAPABILITIES
Distinctive capability varies according to the products as it goes with the tea industry
Organizational Processes
Tapal danedar tea has very effective research and development through which they are having very innovative brands with production efficiency.
Skills and Accumulated knowledge
Tapal danedar has developed impressive skills in operating its business model at very high quality accumulated knowledge has guided management improving business design overtime
Coordination of Activities
Coordination of activities among different departments is the essence of tapal danedar. Research and development supports other departments to have controlled and timely production.
Assets
People inside the organization and Tapal itself brand names are assets of the company.
CRITICAL ISSUES
Tapal claims as the high percentage of illiterate people does causes a problem for them as these sort of people does not know about the problems in the loose tea. A major portion of the market which is a low level class goes for the loose tea as they do not know the low quality of tea used in it which can be a threat for their health.
MARKETING STRATEGIES
MISSION
“To satisfy our stake holders as a guiding principle in our principle be a benchmark for quality, creativity and ethical values.”
MARKETING OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the marketing plan are strategically centered around 3 criteria
· To create a strong consumer awareness against unorganized tea product,
· To establish a wide brand recognition through the capture of market shares in the multi segment, and
· To become the top market leader in that particular segment within the strong research and development.
TARGET MARKETING
The target market is that they are defining for our brand Tapal Danedar is the A class and B+ class. The target of this brand is the urban areas of the country and along with the use in offices and business class as well. Tapal danedar is basically the one to one competitor against Lipton yellow label. The class and geographical location we can say is almost same for both the brands.
POSITIONING
TO A class and B+
FOR TAPAL DANEDAR
DIFFERENTIATION DANEDAR TEA
MARKETING MIX
PRODUCT
The core
o Tea Beverage
The actual product
o Packaging and labeling: see figure in front
o Branding: red color, aspect of refreshing, hard pack and soft pack both.
o Trade name: Tapal Danedar, a TAPAL product
o Brand personality Freshness, Healthy, Innovative, etc.
o Brand equity: Tapal Danedar provides a quality, consistent, innovative and accessible tea reputation.
Marketing considerations
Product life cycle: Tapal danedar is a product at its maturity level so they are finding new multiple segments to differentiate themselves.
PRICE
The pricing strategy that they are following for Tapal is cost oriented as the price that tapal is taking is comparatively low then its main competitor Yellow label tea. The price going for some products are
200 grams Tapal Danedar Hard Pack 80rs.
400 grams Tapal Danedar Family Pack 155rs.
Prices for Lipton Yellow Label Tea
200 grams Yellow Label 95rs.
500 grams Yellow Label 235rs.
So its price we can say that varies according to cost and even in high quality which they are claiming their price is low as compared to Yellow Label Tea.
CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION
Manufacturer ------à Distributor---------à Retailer --------àConsumer
The channel of distributions according to this brand Tapal Danedar is simply as shown by the diagram as manufacturer to distributors who vary according to geographical dispersion and then to retailer to final consumer. Tapal has a great channel of distribution not only to this brand but also all other brands that vary geographically according to consumer needs.
TAPAL has 5 main warehouses in Pakistan which are located in the following cities.
1. KARACHI
2. HYDERABAD
3. SUKHUR
4. MULTAN
5. RAIWIND
From these warehouses the product move to the distributors as only in north they have 207 distribution channels. And from these distributors the product move to the next, which is retailer and then to the consumer. This is also one of their strengths that they have a strong distribution channels.
PROMOTION
Objectives
To make the brand remind the consumer as much it could be.
· Tapal is using both BTL and ATL for the purpose of promotion.
· Through BTL Tapal is focusing on display racks, sign boards etc. mainly placed to different retailers for heavy promotion against their competitors.
· The specific term used by TAPAL is the MODERN TRADE so that they have an eye contact of the product with the customer. In this they are using shelves to display their product in big stores like ALFATAH, HKB, and JALAL SONS.
· Through ATL Tapal is focusing on broadcast and print media promotion by placing ads on T.V and placing newspapers ads as well.
MARKETING RESEARCH
Tea blending and tasting is both an art and a science and Tapal prides itself on having mastered both the aspects. Tapal has adroitly judged the olfactory senses and keenness of the taste buds of their patrons, resulting in the creation of various well-known brands. Aftab F. Tapal is a well-trained and highly experienced tea taster of the country and is recognized as a qualified tea specialist worldwide. Tapal's tea managers have been trained at home and abroad in this very rigorous and specialized discipline, and have frequently travelled to leading tea-producing countries searching for better teas.
Tapal is a research-oriented company. It subscribes to and conducts various researches in the area of retail audits, consumer behavior, media planning and product development. This research is used for continuous improvement in product quality, brand positioning and communication according to the changing requirements of the consumers. Consistency and quality are the two keystones of Tapal's production policy, and the Quality Control Department at Tapal ensures that flavor and freshness is never compromised. That's why all the brands, whether Danedar, Tapal Special or Tapal Family Mixture, always taste exactly as expected; retaining aroma and freshness till the last sip.
Research on the Hard Pack
According to the marketing manager service he conducted a research at different big cities of the country so that to analyza consumer behavior. By this research many classes were taken over in 12 different sessions. By this research first they showed the ad of Tapal and then ask about their thoughts and feelings related to the ad. The target market is housewives from different classes and on the basis of this research tapal concluded that they have to launch a hard pack of Tapal Danedar. As its target market was not comfortable to use the soft pack due to the status problem. Now after the launch tepal claims that it is difficult to fulfill the markey need of hard pack due to high demand.
REFERENCE
Reference was taken from the following
Marketing Manager Service Mr. Khawaja M. Musa
Human Resource Manager North Lahore Mr. Asif
Economic Survey of Pakistan through Website.
