Over a period of three years, basmati prices have spiralled to reach Rs 75-80 a kg, as against the earlier Rs 45. As a result the company found that good quality branded basmati began gradually moving beyond the consumers' reach, and people began to move towards the unbranded segment.

With the premium market stagnating, Satnam conducted a survey of the market in 1998, which revealed that the middle class and upper middle class was willing to buy basmati at Rs 30-35 a kg, without being very particular about the brand. Satnam then conceived a new brand Trophy with the positioning: `great rice at a great price'.

Says Puneet Mahajan, deputy general manager, advertising and marketing: ``We felt this wasthe right time to launch a brand within the reach of the middle class. We are targeting sections that were beginning to move towards unbranded rice.''

Currently, the size of the branded rice market is Rs 400 crore, which excludes the regional brands. Of this, Kohinoor claims a market share of 22-23 per cent, or Rs 85 crore in value terms. Says Mahajan, ``We were the first to move from the commodity market to the branded market. We were also the first to market our brand systematically, with advertisements on TV (the Sharmila Tagore-Pataudi ad).''

After test marketing the brand in Bangalore, Trophy was launched nationally in October 1998. Seeing the initial success of the brand, a systematic marketing strategy is being put into place. For the regional markets, Trophy is being advertised mainly in the regional papers, magazines and outdoor media.

To target the national market, Satnam plans to launch a TV commercial on Trophy sometime in August 1999. Since the brand is seeking to make inroads in theunorganised sector, it is making a concerted effort to gain retailer loyalty by striking a one-to-one rapport with retailers through its network of 500 salesmen. The Satnam distribution network currently consists of 81 distributors and 300 stockists nationally, with over 150,000 outlets.

The company is also setting into motion a number of incentives to gain loyalty from retailers, like regional get-togethers, gifts, trade discounts, schemes, and retail contests for window displays.

Mumbai and Western India account for the largest market for basmati, with Gujarat alone accounting for 75 per cent of the total sales between November to January. Branded basmati sales in the north are comparatively less as compared to the south, says Malhotra. This is because rice-growing areas like Sonepat, Karnataka, and Punjab flood the northern markets with cheaper varieties of rice. Trophy has already notched up sales of Rs 20 crore, says Mahajan. The company hopes to double this figure by year-end and has set itself asales target of Rs 50 crore.