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Pandian Pickles: value or volume?

Manjula N. (Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, India)
Bala Subramanian R. (Rajagiri Business School, Rajagiri College of social sciences, Cochin, India)
Sunita Mehta (Indian School of Business, Mohali, India)

Publication date: 11 April 2023

Issue publication date: 21 June 2023

Abstract

Research methodology

This study adopted interview methods and field visits to collect the data. An audio recording was done for the whole interview and presented as facts in this case. Field visits were done to see the packs and understand the consumers and their purchase habits of pickles.

Case overview/synopsis

Pandian Pickles is a pickle manufacturer located in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, a state in the southern part of India. Mr Kandasamy, one of the partner of the Pandian pickle, had been thinking of ways to grow the business. Pandian Pickles dominated the low-price unit (LPU) market with a unique packing of pickles done in “arecanut” leaf. This added a unique flavour to their pickles. Mr Kandasamy envisioned to grow the business by introducing higher stock-keeping units in the form of jars and tap the middle class and the upper-middle-class segments in the market. In this category, there were much more prominent and branded players. Being a small regional player, Govindan wondered how Pandian Pickles would take these more prominent players in the industry head-on.

Complexity academic level

The case is ideally suited for discussing the concept of product line stretching, particularly in the product mix strategies of a small and medium enterprise (SME). The case can best fit into the courses such as Entrepreneurship Development, Product and Brand Management, Marketing Management for the Undergraduate levels and in the courses such as Strategic Marketing, Bottom of the Pyramid Markets and Strategies Management of SMEs in the postgraduate levels.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Disclaimer. This case is intended to be used as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. The case was compiled from published sources.

Citation

N., M., Subramanian R., B. and Mehta, S. (2023), "Pandian Pickles: value or volume?", , Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 541-558. https://doi.org/10.1108/TCJ-09-2021-0141

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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