Dear Maggi, you have ruined Pasta’s Career
Consumer preferences can be shaped by the first movers in a big way. What better to understand that than our beloved Maggi. Here’s my letter to her on how she has shaped the Indian palate forever.?
Dear Maggi,
First of all, let me show my love and respect for you. You have been a lifesaver for me and millions of students, busy moms, lazy bachelors, non-cooks, and hosts to uninvited guests. You have been one of the greatest additions to the Indian food habits in recent history. I am writing this letter to express how your love has dented the career of your remote cousin the ‘Pasta’.?
Let me be objective:
The slimy gooey texture of those intertwined noodles that we love to slurp on has made a mark on the Indian tongue forever. This has hit the expectations from pasta in a big way. The perfectly cooked al dente* pasta is undercooked for Maggi lovers.
2. The Homogeneity:?
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The second casualty of the love for slimy texture are the veggies. Maggi is often cooked with vegetables or egg - the anda maggi. The vegetables are often finely chopped and overcooked to make it homogenous with maggi. The egg is either poached and mixed with boiling maggi or added as a bhurji. In either case, maggi is a homogenous slimy mix. Here lies the challenge for adding veggies to the Pasta. Pick a zucchini piece from here, poke a broccoli piece there - give up and search for the slurp.?
3. The Palate blast:
Maggi is Umami rich, the flavor that vegetarians are generally deprived of. Add to it the loads of saltiness, hotness without chillies, and spiciness without garam masala. That’s a big benchmark to match. The pasta on the other hand asks you to patch in sourness on one side with some tomatoes, a piece of meat, then a subtly flavored (bland for many) piece of vegetable. Spray the black pepper, and finally a dash of forced chili flakes, and finally keep shaking that oregano again and again. Maggi, you reign magically supreme.
4. Tomato or Cheese: The final rescue
Why is it difficult to pick between the Arabiatta and the Alfredo? Give me the pink sauce! People want the flavors from tomato and that creaminess from the white sauce - remember slimy. Cheese with its eternal, humanity enticing fat and eternal saltiness appears for the rescue. Not the best culinary way but Maggi, you have set a very high benchmark.?
You should be happy to know that the Chefs in India have given up. They are making their Pastas overcooked and slimier than over. Loaded with more tomatoes and lots of cheese, they are mashing the veggies to a point of being unrecognizable. You know what, there’s a bottle of ketchup on the table too.??
Al Dente: Pasta that is cooked but is firm to bite.?
Building 'Challenger brands'
2 年Sharp observations, Vikas Lachhwani. I had a similar experience years ago, consulting on a brand of herbs and seasonings. We received several complaints on Oregano, jars were being returned by consumers stating that the oregano was fake or lacked flavour. A few phone calls later we learned that the gold standard for Oregano in India was the savoury sachets from Domino's that families were hoarding. Anything else was seen as a deviation. The company later went on to launch a Pizza Seasoning product and as the markets matured, consumers began to have an appreciation for the real Oregano.
very interesting Vikas Lachhwani ji, off course there is first mover advantage. As a first movers huge efforts been made to it accepted in market. also product pricing and positioning also accepted over the years efforts.
Sr. Manager - Process Engineering & Integrated Operations for Innovation, Technology & Quality for GEMs
2 年Interesting Vikas, Maggi is still a savior, still a best negotiating offer to kiddo but I am a pasta lover and Alfredo & Cafe Momo at Courtyard by Marriott do serve Al dente pasta with perfectly sautéed vegetables ??
Innovation & Digital Transformation @Apprarel Group | IIT K | Startup Mentor & Investor
2 年And in 2 mins??
1 Under 50 .
2 年hope d2c brands take away from this as well ;)