Cadbury sales back to normal levels Our Bureau Mumbai , Oct.

2 A YEAR after the germs infestation controversy, chocolate major Cadbury India is almost out of it with its monthly sales coming back to normal levels. "We are again back to our normal monthly sales of various chocolates brands. Monthly sales have been same as what were before the germs issue came into limelight," said Mr Sanjay Purohit, Director Marketing, Cadbury India, said on Saturday. Speaking to presspersons at the company's Thane plant, Mr Purohit said the company has done some internal studies and found that consumer fears regarding germs controversy is over. Education at retailer levels and new packing has also helped the company overcome the controversy. However, he did not give the sales figures to justify the claim. In January this year, the company said that it would suffer a 3-5 per cent decline in sales value on account of the infestation problem. New packaging: In a bid to prevent any incidence of infestation, Cadbury had introduced a double packaging for its 13-gram Rs 5 Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, its flagship brand. The chocolate is wrapped in aluminium foil and enclosed in a polyflow pack, which is sealed on all sides. The larger Cadbury Dairy Milk packs will come in poly-coated aluminium foil, which will be heat-sealed and then wrapped in the branded outer package. Both these are first-ever in chocolate packaging in India. It has also roped in Amitabh Bachchan as brand ambassador. Mr Purohit also stated that there are audits for the company's products frequently to ensure that quality standards are maintained. Gift boxes: At the company's plant, the company launched Cadbury Celebrations Rich Dry Fruit Collection - a range of premium chocolate gift boxes. Available in attractive packs, the collections cater to a premium-gifting consumer and are an ideal festive gift, the company statement said. Worm controversy hit Cadbury in Oct 2003 Fungus layer on portions of its chocolates A swarm of tiny white worms crawling out of the chocolatenuggets State Food Laboratory at the Public Health Institute said the chocolates were insect-infested and unfit for eating Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) began seizure of thechocolate not only from all outlet across the state but also fromthe Talegaon Plant FDA also ordered inspection of Stock at companys Mumbai Plant Peak Season Sale and outsourcing model affected due to controversy

Effects:The heat of negative publicity melted Cadbury's sales by 30 percent, at a time when it sees a festive spike of 15 percent. N et profit in 2003 dipped 37 per cent to Rs 45.6 crore ascompared to a 21 per cent increase the previous year. Retailer stocking and display dropped, employee morale especially that of the sales team was shaken. The Company had to shelve its plans of becoming a major sourcing hub for British Chocolates and beverages giant Cadbury Schweppes. The largest impact on sales has been seen in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur in Maharashtra, Cochin in Kerala, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Reasons:Aggressive marketing by Company while neglecting on the Quality of Retailers Lack of efforts to Educate Retailers and ensure adequate hygienic storage conditions at retail outlets Poor quality in packaging of product Issues related to transportation of product No Norms in terms of Storage for Chocolates Two Phase strategy:Phase 1: Presenting Cadburys view(October-December 2003) the agency set up a media desk to ensure that no media query went unanswered. the Cadburys Managing Director addressed consumer concerns Project Vishwas (Trust) Editorial Outreach Program with 31media editors across affected cities Phase 2 Packaging Change and communication (Jan- MAcrh 04) Packaging: New purity sealed packaging ( Jan 2004) -investment of Rs 15crore on imported machinery Metallic Poly-Flow was costlier by 10-15% but Cadbury didnt hike the Pack Price Investment of millions of Dollars leads to achieve a production process in 8 weeks, that would normally take 6 months. Advertisement Weapon:Brand Ambassador To reinforce the credibility Amitabh

Bachchan, A legendary Indian film star, was chosen, as he embodied the values of Cadbury as a brand Media Conference to compare the old and new packs with an innovative comparison kit A Video news release with packaging shots and factory shots was given to television channels A udio-Visual ... series of sales conferences to enthuse and reassure salespersons The announcement of the new pack --a testimonial advertisement on TV called Sincerity.

Campaign Result and Measurement:Media Coverage of view clips in over 11 languages covering the new packaging and itsbenefits Sales declined drastically between week 1 to week 10 of the crisis Within 8 weeks of introduction of new packaging and communication sales volume reached to the pre-incident levels Image in ratings amongst consumer s positive coverage and the trades positive pre-disposition played a huge part in helping in Cadbury regain its reputation

Cadbury's worm infested candy bars (2003)

The crisis: Two Cadbury chocolate bars were found infested with worms in Mumbai, India. The Maharashtra FDA quickly seized the chocolate stock at Cadbury's closest manufacturing plant in Pune. How Cadbury responded: The company was slow out of the gates. It released a statement claiming that the infestation was not possible at the manufacturing stage, while the FDA disagreed, prompting a tussle between the two. The media jumped on Cadbury, and the brand was under widespread assault. Cadbury took its advertising off the air and launched an educational PR project that targeted retailers. It kept the media updated through press releases on the specific measures it was taking to correct its manufacturing and storage processes. The company also imported new machinery and changed the packaging of its Dairy Milk bars. Four months later, Cadbury began advertising more aggressively. By then, the company's relationship with the media had improved greatly. The result: Cadbury's sales in India plunged 30% in the wake of all the negative media coverage, and this was during a season when its sales usually increase by 15%. But over time, Cadbury began to recover. Within eight weeks of the introduction of its new packaging and advertising campaign, sales had almost reached pre-crisis levels. The company announced eight months after the incident that its consumer confidence was back to to normal. Cadbury has maintained its position at the top of the Indian chocolate industry ever since. But Cadbury suffered three years later when a salmonella outbreak wasn't handled nearly as well.