TTK to support Prestige of UK in global foray

Anubha Ghosh in Bangalore

TTK Prestige, the flagship arm of the TTK Group, has negotiated a deal with Prestige, UK, to sell its products under the Prestige brand name in all markets of the Middle East and Africa.

TTK Group chairman Mr TT Jaganathan told The Financial Express that the deal was struck recently to enter these areas which have a substantial market for pressure cookers. According to the earlier licence agreement, the company was confined to use the Prestige brand name only in India.

Mr Jaganathan said,‘‘We have been selling pressure cookers in these markets under the brand name Mantra. However, now we will be able to sell all products under Prestige, a far stronger brand, in these markets which have a high demand for pressure cookers.’’

In fact, TTK Prestige will now sell all electric and non-electrical kitchen appliances in its product portfolio including the recently launched ‘Smart’ range of pressure cookers, non-stickware, gas stoves, knives, mixer grinders, juicers and soda makers in the new markets. The new deal will also enable TTK to take mileage from its brand promotion exercise.

“This will enable the company to exploit the potential of these markets as the advertisement made in India especially in the satellite TV network reaches these countries”, a company official added.
The TTK Group also plans to refresh its product categories besides adding new ones to its portfolio. ‘‘We will follow a market-specific strategy since the food habits in India are extremely diverse,’’ Mr Jaganathan said.

In August the company launched the Smart range of pressure cookers in which every aspect has been redesigned, it said. Earlier in June, it introduced a range of electrical appliances and gas stoves.
Mr Jaganathan said, “While we would like to globally dominate in our core strength —the pressure cookers, we want to expand operations to include products that cover the entire kitchen domain.”

The domestic pressure cooker market is limited to Rs 500 crore while the small electronic appliances and gas stoves market expands to Rs 3,000 crore, he added. The company said in the past few years the pressure cooker segment has seen sluggish growth mainly due to lack of innovation in the product.

Competition was not necessarily from other pressure cooker brands but also from other products that occupy space in the kitchen, the company felt. In 1981, the company had introduced the safety measure GRS (gasket release system) which became popular with buyers. Thereafter in 1984 it launched the pressure pan followed
by Prestige Popular and Prestige Ultimate cookers.