Despite being the largest-selling brand in the country, with sales of 5-lakh units per year, the Rs72 crore-turnover company's markets have so far been in the southern region. The company now wants Preethi to be recognized as a pan-Indian brand.

Armed with a freshly designed series of mixer-grinders powered by a larger 750 W motor, and a media campaign with a budget of Rs3 crore to promote the brand, the company has decided to begin in the North Indian markets with the premium range of its products.

According to Vijay Srinivasan, director, marketing, "The new design was developed after extensive survey amongst housewives in five cities revealed their lifestyle requirements and aspirations. The new design combines aesthetics with functionality and performance."

Its new Preethi Blue Leaf Platinum priced at Rs3,970 and Preethi Blue Leaf Gold at Rs3,691 will complement Maya Appliances' other four variants - the Eco Plus, Popular, Chefpro and Preethi Chefpro, all in the 750 W range, for Preethi's battle for the Northern markets.

As the brand name signifies, the new range is designed on a "leaf motif", which is contrary to the conventional 'L' or oval-shaped mixies. The new design helps in reducing the table space occupied by a mixie.

"Ours is the only brand that has a 750 W motor. This is ideal for chutney's, dosa batter and other items as the grinding work gets done very fast. As a result the matter ground does not get heated or half cooked, affecting the taste and form of the end products," says Srinivasan.

Agreeing that Preethi Blue Leaf with its new design and bigger jars might cannibalise into the Preethi Chefpro Plus' priced moderately lower at Rs3,600 Srinivasan says, "We expect Blue Leaf sales to be around 22 per cent of our total volume."

What facilitates the brand's entry into new markets is the company's Himachal Pradesh plant set up at an outlay of Rs10 lakh.

Speaking about the market structure, Srinivasan says, "There are three product categories - mixer-grinders, juicer-mixer-grinder and food processors. The total volume is around 50 lakh units per annum. The average annual market growth is around 7 per cent and the total value of sales is around Rs1,000 crore. The projection for 2007 is 54 lakh units."

Amongst the three categories, the market for mixer-grinders is the largest with a market size of 37 lakh units. Srinivasan further divides the mixer-grinder market based on the price points - above Rs2,000 per piece and below that. "We are in the Rs2,000 plus retail price segment in the branded category. The market size of this segment is around 10 lakh units." The company's top of the line Preethi ChefPro Plus is priced at Rs3,600.

The annual state wise demand break up for mixer-grinders is:

In the South Preethi commands a market share of 30 per cent and in Tamil Nadu 60 per cent.

Preethi's success

The company started in Chennai way back in 1978 making just 20 mixies per day. During the decade 1983-1993 the company added a coffee maker to its portfolio, expanded the mixie range to four and increased its distribution network.

The next decade saw the company logging high growth followed by a stagnation in 2000. It roped a Mumbai-based consultant who recommended a rejig of the distribution network and the product portfolio.

Along with the demand, the company increased its capacity and became the second-largest mixie brand in the country after Sumeet. "The company also expanded the distribution network. The number of dealers went up to 2,600 and service centres to 350," says Srinivasan.

The growth continued after 2004. With the market leader Sumeet getting into problems, Preethi soon became the industry leader though its market was restricted to the South and exports to Sri Lanka, the Middle East, the US, Canada and Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the company added new products like gas stoves, microwave ovens, electric rice cookers. "We import the components and assemble the ovens and rice cookers," says Srinivasan.

According to him the frequency of mixie purchase by households has come down by half. "Earlier people used to replace their old mixie after 15 years. Now that time frame has come down to 7 years." Targetting a volume of 10-lakh mixies by 2010, Maya Appliances has drawn out plans to get into other kitchen appliances starting with the launch of a table top wet grinder.