VORA AND COMPANY

CASE ANALYSIS
PRESENTED BY:
PREETI
MEENAKSHI SINGH
KAMINI SINGH
VISHAL SINGH
KARTIKEY JAGWANI
About the case:
 M.C Vora , proprietor of Vora and company, located at Lucknow.
 Manufacturer of blossom quick cooking oats.
 They had started to sell their product nationally in 1961.
 This case discuss about various strategies adopted by the company,
their strengths and weakness and in that way it also discuss about
reasons for low sales.
 The main objective of the case, in general, is to discuss various
points which a firm should consider before entering into new market.
In terms of Vora and Company, the objective is to know whether
Blossom should continue in the business or not and to give
suggestion on various marketing techniques for increasing the sales
of Blossom.
Problems faced by Vora and
company:
 Vora & co. had a competitor – Ganesh flour mills ,Delhi.
 Despite of high demand in south India for oats ,the sales decrease because of unexperienced
selling agent.
 There was lack of ideas in packaging, pricing ,distribution channels and Advertising.
 Lack of market research, analysis and information and data about operating model of the
 competitor.
 The total cost to the company was greater than the total revenue generated by the company.
 The current distributors merely take orders from retailers and supply the same from Vora and Co.
 Mr. Vora was not connected with the distributors, leaving the responsibility solely on the agents
 The packaging price of Blossom Oats is about 36% of the direct costs which has to be reduced.
 With communication only through mails, the interaction between the selling agents and Mr. Vora
was minimum.
 USP of the product, which is “Quick-cooking”, is not prominently highlighted in the packets
 Strategies to adopt:
A. PRODUCT AND PACKAGING
 The company has to do a comprehensive market research to understand
the demands of various regions of India.
 The current cost of the packing tin is around 40% of the direct cost
incurred. This cost needs to be brought down by looking into alternative
packaging options.
 The packaging has to innovative and differentiable from its competitors
like ‘Champion Oats’.
 The packaging can be done in other measurements rather than only 550
gram packs which would be able to cater to various segments like larger
families depending upon the consumption.
 Their USP is ‘Quick Cooking’ and it should be highlighted.
B. ADVERTISUNG AND PROMOTION
 The picture of ‘Smiling Girl’ should be changed as it is very similar to that of
Champion Oats . There should be a provision of incentives for retailers and
distributors according to the quantity of sales . Given that Mr. Vora is
ready to put in the funds, so there is no dearth of funds. Thus a more
effective and aggressive promotional strategy should be implemented
which can lead to an increase in the penetration of the product.
 USP of the product, which is “Quick-cooking”, should be prominently
highlighted in the packets.

C.PRICING
 Alternative packaging solutions should be developed which can help in
reducing the cost.
 The commission to agents should be kept marginally above that of
Champion Oats so that they can lure some of the bigger agents from
Champion Oats.
D. SALES AND DISTRIBUTION
 The disappointing sales in the south India states of Madras, Kerala and
Mysore, which was considered to be the biggest market , were result of
the employment of an inexperienced sales agent. So in the areas of
potentially high sales, experienced and efficient sales agents must be
employed.
 The distributors & agents must keep inventory of the product for faster &
efficient delivery to customers as improvement of the sales & distribution
channels is immensely essential.
 Distributors should employ more sub-distributors to branch out the process
and reach a bigger market.
 Mr. Vora should have personal meetings with the distributors and retailers
for better communication.
PROFIT-LOSS CALCULATION
 Average sales per month (cases) 83
 Number of months (June to Nov.) 6
 Total cases 498

Direct Costs (in Rs.)

 Material 24.12
 Packing tins 21.6
 Other packing materials, wooden case waterproof paper, box
strapping pads 4
 Direct labour 5.4
 Railway Freight 4.8
 Total Direct cost per case 59.92
 Total Direct cost for all cases (59.92*83*6) 29840.16
 Overhead Cost per case (in Rs.) 12.18
 Total Overhead Cost for all cases (in Rs.) 6065.64
 Total Cost (in Rs.) 35905.8

Regarding the selling price of the cases, since it is different in southern &
northern region, & as mentioned in the case that southern region sales
were disappointing, we assume Rs. 66 as the average selling price of the
case after paying commissions to all the agents and distributors.
 Selling Price per case 66
 Total Selling Price for all cases (in Rs.) 32868
 Loss = Total Cost - Total Revenue 35905.8 - 32868
 Loss (in Rs.) 3037.8
CONCLUSION:
WE THINK MR. VORA should in this business as it has the following points in his
favour:
 It has only been 2 years since the company has started selling the
product nationally as it is the initial stage only, the business can be
continued to get more opportunities .
 Government of india stopped the importation of packaged cereals and
the only competitor in the market is champion quick cooking oats.
 Blossom quick cooking oats has been tested among consumers and the
reviews has been positive (equal or better than competing product).
 The product has high nutritive value and has to be boiled only for 5
minutes compared to 30 minutes required earlier.
 People of south India have widely accepted the product.
 The least price of blossom oats is less than that of champion oats ,giving
blossom oats an edge over its competition.