Why iD Fresh Food squeezed out a new vada maker

That iD Fresh Food, five years ago, launching a squeeze and fry vada batter was a near godsend for the many who struggled to create this iconic South Indian delicacy is an understatement.

Cupping the right amount of batter in your hand, giving it shape, then piercing it with a finger to create that hole in its centre, and then dropping it into hot oil, preparing medu vada is nothing short of an art form. 

Five years later, the food company has developed an upgraded version of its vada maker – the iD Squeeze & Fry Vada Batter 2.0.

The pack comes with a resealable part where you can add any ingredient of your choice, transparent packaging helps you check how well the additions have mixed with the batter, and an upgraded spout makes sure batter is not stuck to it when it is squeezed out of the pack and into the oil.

Personalisation is the key to the 2.0; the campaign line says ‘Your vada, your way da!’

“Once you squeeze the batter out, it falls into the oil, and there was no step to add any ingredients,” says Rahul Gandhi describing major consumer feedback on the prototype. He is the chief marketing officer of iD Fresh Food.

People add tiny coconut pieces, pepper, and ginger to the vada batter they prepare at home. “Your vada is great, but it does not taste like my vada” is what consumers gave as feedback.

The first 'Squeeze & Fry Vada Batter' was launched in 2018, and it took the company five years to come up with the second one because, for starters, it had halted its research and development during the covid-induced lockdown years.

And second, it needed time to improve existing features while adding innovations.

“One feedback we got in the first version was some customers were not able to squeeze the batter easily through the spout. If we are launching 2.0, we need to fix those things that came as feedback from version one,” remarks Saritha Rajagopal, creative director, iD Fresh Food.

The company has created the new vada batter version in-house. It is important to note that co-founder Abdul Naser took a hammer and some sheets of steel, and made a prototype which, after testing, became the first version of the squeeze and fry vada batter.

Both versions, surprisingly, cost the same (nearly). The iD Squeeze & Fry Vada Batter 2.0 (375g) is priced at INR 80. The first version, as per Big Basket, cost Rs 81 for a 375g pack.

Gandhi says that while the financials of the product has not changed much, “we have to look at the value a consumer is willing to pay and bear in mind how much they are paying for a vada at a restaurant. It should be reasonably affordable for them to adopt the brand.”

The new pack will be available at all e-commerce and quick commerce portals and “top 500 to 1,000 stores in Bangalore” first. It will then drop at other cities.

It is easy to assume the vada batter is for people who cannot make it or do not have time to prepare the batter and then fry it in hot oil.

The second part is true, and what is interesting is Rajagopal’s revelation about the 2.0 batter focusing on young working women.

“It is the same woman who wants to make medu vadas like her mother and grandmother but cannot do so because of various reasons like time or lifestyle…,” she explains.

“Modern traditionalists” is how the company, as per Gandhi, has segmented the target group. “… want the same authenticity of traditional foods they used to make but have a modern lifestyle.”

It does not mean one should expect women to appear in the ads for the 2.0 going forward. Gandhi says that men are an important target group too, especially for offerings like filter coffee and parotta, and that the company’s ads have and will feature “a good mix of men and women and the entire family.”

iD Fresh Food has released only one ad for the 2.0 batter, and it plans to focus all its media money on digital. Influencers will play a role online to promote this product, and the company will activate on-ground activations too. Think malls and branded vada vans where a customer can try the product.