Xs and Frooti lock horns; mango drinks war may end up in the courts

26 Apr 2002 05:30 IST

New Update

Parle is gearing up to fight Godrej Industries Foods Division this summer in the court, rather than in the marketplace

New battle lines are being drawn in the summer drinks market. Godrej Industries Foods Division (GIFD) fired the first salvo by launching a print ad challenging rival Frooti on mango content. In retaliation, Parle has decided to take legal action against GIFD on the ground of misleading the consumer.

Better, more, extra. Though used to death, these words have become the warheads for marketers fighting for consumer attention. Whether or not the brand lives up to its claims is not of immediate concern.

The recent print advertisement of Xs, the Tetra Pak mango fruit nectar from GIFD, shows a Frooti mango pack with ‘Frooti' written above the pack. Next to the Frooti pack is the Xs pack with ‘Frootier' written above it. And below both the packs, the copy reads, ‘Xs is frootier as it contains 50 per cent more pulp'. The strap line reads, ‘More Fruit. More Taste'.

What is the takeout from the ad? Quite simply, the ad tries to communicate that Xs is better as it contains more fruit pulp than Frooti. Clearly, Madison Creative, Xs' agency, has taken recourse to a competitive positioning to underline the product differentiation. "If you have observed, Frooti is described as a mango ‘drink', whereas Xs is called mango nectar. So we decided to highlight the difference," says Prabha Prabhu, executive director, Madison Creative.

While Madison is simply ‘educating' the consumers about the benefits of Xs vis-a-vis Frooti, the Parle Group strongly feels the comparison is unfair. "It's like comparing apples to oranges. First, Frooti and Xs fall under different categories. While Frooti is a drink, Xs is nectar. Second, the print ad shows a 200-ml Tetra Pak of Frooti against a 250- ml Tetra Pak of Xs. If on that basis Godrej claims that Xs has more fruit pulp, the comparison is unfair," says Prakash Chauhan, chairman and managing director, Parle Group.

For Godrej, the comparison is absolutely fine. M Y Verma, executive vice-president, sales & marketing, GIFD, addresses the issues raised by Parle one by one. "The comparison is fair. Both the products Frooti and Xs fall under the same category, which is, Tetra Pak. So it is a comparison in the same category. Moreover, both are mango-based beverages."

To the second point raised by Parle, Verma's rejoinder is, "It is clear from our communication that we are not comparing the weights of the two. We are simply comparing the percentage of mango fruit pulp in both the products."

To put things in perspective, fruit beverages are divided into three categories, drinks, nectar and juice. According to the Fruit Product Order (1955), a fruit drink can be categorised as a ‘drink' only if the final product has a minimum of 10 per cent fruit pulp, whereas a fruit nectar must have a minimum of 20 per cent fruit pulp in the final product. "We have simply used this fact to highlight the difference between Xs and Frooti. The FPO clearly states that nectar should have a higher percentage of fruit pulp than a fruit drink. And this is simply what we are saying," states Verma.

Well if that is so simple then why weren't two packs of equal size shown in the ad? In other words the ad compares a 250-ml pack of Xs with a 200-ml pack of Frooti, whereas Frooti is also available in a 250-ml pack size in the market. "The only reason why we have done it is because the 200-ml pack is very popular with consumers. About 80 per cent of Frooti sales come from its 200-ml pack. Therefore it made sense to use a 200-ml pack rather than the 250-ml pack. The former is more noticeable than the latter," pat comes the reply from Verma.

The quantity of pulp content is one issue. The other is the quality of the mango pulp used. "There is another fact that I want to bring to your notice. Not only does Xs contain 50 per cent more fruit pulp, the mango pulp of Xs is of a better quality," says Verma. This is how it is. "To give the right mouth feel and taste Xs' mango pulp is a blend of Alfanso (a superior variety of Mango) and Tota Puri (a common variety of mango). Whereas, Frooti's mango pulp is made of Tota Puri only."

In its turn, Parle finds Xs's claims questionable. "What are they trying to achieve by doing this? If there is 50 per cent more fruit pulp then why do they add synthetic bases and emulsifiers (artificial thickners)? I wonder why is Godrej investing money in advertising when its product's (Xs) distribution is so weak. Can you believe how difficult it was to procure just six packs of Xs?" asks Prakash Chauhan.

Verma counters, "I am quite surprised that getting six packs of Xs was difficult. We are metro-focused in our distribution. Xs is available in 35,000 retail outlets in eight metros and mini metros. And as far as our ad spends our concerned, we have just spent Rs 1 crore on advertising. Currently, there are a few hoardings in Mumbai. In fact, we plan to have more of these in other metros to make it a total of 20 hoardings."

Nothing will assuage Parle now - it seems. Parle plans to take legal action against GIFD. However, the company has decided to keep the media out of this. "Xs is too insignificant a player in the market for us to react. According to ORG-Marg, for the year January 2001-December 2001, the all-India sales (in volumes) of Frooti mango was 17,206,992 litres, and Xs mango nectar was only 76,816 litres. So the proof lies in the pudding."

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