Heritage

Abstract

The present study has been undertaken to know the perception of the customer about milk as well as taste and price, quality, difficulties faced and improvements needed to deliver better service. The purpose of the study is to understand the customer perception towards Heritage milk and it tries to identify customer consumption pattern. The study is based on 120 customers and limited to Hyderabad area. The study will help organisation to get comprehensive understanding of consumer preference towards different milk variants of Heritage milk. A Structured questionnaire was designed to know the consumer perception towards Heritage milk and their preferences towards particular variant. The researcher contacted respondents personally and the brief summary of the nature of the study and details in the questionnaire were narrated to them. The questionnaire was administered to 120 people. The data was analysed using SPSS 15.0 versions. The study reveals that majority of the respondents are satisfied with taste, flavour, quality, freshness, thickness, availability of milk, service provided by the dealers, brand image, trust on the brand. But the dissatisfaction levels are observed in promotional activities and advertisements, price of double toned milk .It is recommended to implement promotional activities and decrease the price of milk as it is high price compared to other milk brands.

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INTRODUCTION

Customer satisfaction is related to the consumer perceptions of the products of the company which directly will have an impact on the profitability of any industry. Customer perception involves actions that are designed and carried out by organizational spokespersons to influence audience‟s perception about the products supplied by the organization. Companies often use brand management as an attempt to change a potential customer‟s perception of the product value. The best medium for businesses to position the perceptions of the customers is through marketing. Companies must formulate its strategies in such a way that it should attract new customers by knowing the market i.e., the people‟s need for a product in the market. The decision making process of the companies may also have a drastic effect on the customer perceptions about the products that are offered by the company and it will also effect the companies future growth with respect to its loyal customers.

Customer perception about a product will help the company in having an indirect marketing where the customers will be promoting about the product to their beloved friends and families which will help the company in getting new customers. Attracting new customers does not say that the company has reached its objectives but it should develop the strategies that would help the company in retaining its customers. customer retention is one of the important task for any organization to serve a particular group of people so that they will be satisfied by consuming the products or services of the companies.

Advertising which influences people in positioning perception on a product or service in the present days through which customers are able to know about the new products that are coming in to the markets and getting used to the products. The people may form perceptions based on various factors like brand image, product features and they are even influenced by various environmental forces that would have a affect on the customer‟s perception about the product and the company producing the products.

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The customer perception of the quality changes overtime as a result of added information, increased competition in a product category and changing expectations of the customers. The dynamic nature of the quality suggests that marketers must track perceptions over time and align products and promotion strategies with the changing views of the markets that the companies are offering products or services.

Customer Perception Theory illustrates and explains one method through which advertising is effective. There are two basic concepts that need to be accepted in order to understand CPT: cultural filtration, perceptual reality. Cultural filtration is simply the reason that people perceive day to day life differently from one another. Each person is unique and has had a unique set of life events that shape the way they experience. An easy way of understanding cultural filtration is by comparing the cultural filter to a pair of sunglasses. When we wear tinted glasses we view the world as being the colour of the lens, the same applies with our cultural filters. We gather our experiences on a wide variety of topics (politics, education, experience, vocabulary, travel, geographic location, cultural knowledge, tradition, family, heritage, race, ethnicity, sexuality, habits, etc) and form our own unique cultural filter. It is through this unique filter that we experience everything, including advertising. In the model above the pink tinted rectangle represents the cultural filter. With cultural filtration in place, we can proceed through the steps of the model which define the theory. The process of Customer perception theory starts with the consumer: an individual toward which the message is directed. The consumer must first have a perceived need or want, and then actively experience an advertisement in the product category where the need or want exists. It is a catalyst for the model if this advertisement occurs at strategic timing in the process. After exposure, the consumer forms an opinion about the product. This perception becomes the reality of that product to the consumer. It is possible that this truth could change with exposure to competitive messages from a wide variety of sources (other media, friends, advice columns etc). If, however, the product is perceived, and therefore assigned the truth, of being positive it is then evaluated as to whether or not it fills the need or want. If it does indeed fit the need, it is likely that the consumer will proceed to the purchase stage of the model. In the purchase stage the consumer decides to purchase or not to purchase the product. Again, there are a number of variables surrounding this decision, as surround each step and decision in the model.
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Objectives of The Study :

 

To ascertain the consumers perception towards Heritage milk. To determine the customers opinion on Heritage milk and the problem faced by them.

 

To get the feedback on what the consumer expects from Heritage milk. To know the customer behaviour and to identify the level of customer satisfaction towards Heritage milk.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

In a study by Anita Goyal, N.P. Singh, (2007) "Consumer perception about fast food in India: an exploratory study".Management Development Institute seeks to estimate the consumer perception and various factors affecting the choice of fast foods by Indian young consumers. They found young consumer has passion for visiting fast food outlets for fun and change but their first choice is home food. They also feel that home food is much better and has the highest value for taste and quality than fast foods. Consumers feel that fast food service providers should focus on quality and variety besides service parameters. In a study by SS Schiffman and BG Graham, (2000) on taste and smell perception affect appetite and immunity in the elderly as well as decreased energy consumption which is associated with impaired protein and micro nutrient status and may induce subclinical deficiencies that directly impact function. Evidence is now emerging that suggests compensation for taste and smell loses with flavour-enhanced food that improves palatability, increase salivary flow and immunity reduces sensory complaints in both healthy and sick elderly and lessen the need for table salt. In a study by Ranate Odwin, Neela Badrie (28 JUN 2008 )on consumer food safety knowledge, perception and food handling practices at homes in Trinidad, West Indies emphasized the need for public food safety education to consumers in the domestic environment. They found that most consumers believe that they know how to handle food safely, but they are not correct and mishandling occurs. An improvement in consumer food handling behaviour is likely to reduce the risk and incidence of food-borne disease. There is need for food safety campaigns for consumers to promote safe food handling. In a study by Gregory J. Kivenzo volume 2007 no. 10 on “Academy of Marketing Review on Heritage Brand Perception Effects in Russian Markets” contributes to the exploration of cross cultural communications and brand marketing in Russia. Diverse environments and the nature of consumers call for further brand marketing to predict consumer behaviours. “Heritage” brand enjoys popularity among wealthy and influential consumer groups and sell in Russia at premium prices. At the same time “new” brands gain market share at a slower pace and a greater advertising and promotional cost than those predicted by western models. There is an inverse relation between brand perception and brand equity in the minds of

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consumers with soviet heritage. It discussed the concept of “INBRANOST” where consumers demonstrated a greater propensity to buy “heritage” brands rather than new brands. In the study by Klaus-Peter Wiedmann (2007) on “Measuring Consumers‟ Luxury Value Perception”. The availability of luxury goods to a wide range of consumers than ever before by a change in the way consumers define luxury. The luxury concept explains the consumers‟ behaviour in relation to luxury brands. It is expected that different sets of consumers would have different perceptions of the luxury value for the same brands and that overall luxury value of a brand would integrate these perceptions from different perspectives. The differentiated perception depends on cultural context and the people concerned. The luxury value lies in social and individual as well as in functional and financial aspects, and is important to synthesize all relevant cognitive and emotional value dimensions. The multidimensional and conceptual models help in identifying a broader variety of potential luxury value drivers and their perceptions. In a study by, Ioannis Assiouras , (2001) on “consumer perception towards corporate social responsibilities in the Greek mobile telecommunication industry” says the important role played by the companies through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities which would benefit a firm in many ways. This is the main reason for why the companies show an intense interest in the CSR activities. This study focuses mainly to examine the importance that consumers attach to CSR activities considering the growth of the CSR initiatives by the companies. CSR activities are playing a crucial role in providing benefits to the companies through tax exemptions and they focuses on environmental protection, are willing to change service providers for more social responsible one and they are most sensitive to negative CSR publicity than the positive one. Some of the benefits for social responsible companies are higher purchase intentions and advocacy behaviour. The banking sector is one of the leading in CSR initiatives followed by various industries. The main aim of the study is to issue separate reports for their CSR activities that disclose information about their contributions in India and investigates the impact of CSR initiatives on consumer behaviour. CSR is the company‟s commitment to minimizing or eliminating any harmful effects and maximizing its long run beneficial impact on society. It measures the impact of CSR initiatives on the willingness to legitimate the company‟s operations in the local community who invest in the company and who will buy the company services. It
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allows a company to build better relationships with a variety of stakeholders. Companies use CSR as a tactical instrument and this is the reason that most of the researches are of a short term. CSR activities benefit the companies through its strategies and effects pro activeness. They report on the effectiveness of the programs and the policies implemented and will give guidance to the executives who have the responsibility of developing and communicating activities. In a study by Phan, Michel ( Jan-Mar2011, Vol. 36 Issue 1) on“ Do social media enhance consumer‟s perception and purchase intentions of luxury brands” says that not only luxury brands but also the others use communication tools such as facebook, twitter etc., these days we can find the advertisements on their pages even though their identification is official or unofficial. Social media really enhance brand perception and eventually purchase intention of the consumers for luxury brands. Social media is extremely popular especially among the young adults who have actually grown up with new technologies that are progressive and in turn increases their popularity. Social media is extremely popular especially among the young adults who have grownup with the new communication technologies that are progressive and user friendly which in turn increases their popularity. They found that the awareness of the luxury brands after investigated in the social media. The brands that are most active in social media are actually underperforming in brand liking and purchase intentions. It found that the social media is not sufficient to enhance brand perception or purchase intentions. Some brands do not actively participate in e-commerce even though we are in the beginning of the social media era. In a study by Dalwadi, Riteshkumar (Apr2010, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p20-34, 15p,) on “ Key retail store attributes determining consumer‟s perceptions” aims at witnessing the transformation of shopping habits of the consumers. Modern outlets are providing Indian customers with new shopping exposure and constantly evolving choice for shopping with embracing on wide range of products. Modern retail formats are operating in different shapes and shapes. They are quite different depending on ownership and orientations of the product. The study focuses on the consumer perceptions towards stores and are effected by demographic, situational and store variables when they make purchase decisions. It even emphasized that product range, store layout, shopping convenience and significantly influence the customers as they can be seen with distinct needs and wants which may be because of their consumption patterns. Although retailing is a process of selling goods and services to the consumers for final
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consumption and is a very essential component for the retailers to identify the behavior of consumers about the brand of products that they are supplying in the market. In a study by Anandl and B S Hunda (2008) on the “customer perceptions about the promotional schemes in Punjab focuses on the rural markets” which are increasing in its size and volume. Urban markets which have become conjested with too many competitors and have reached its saturation point and rural markets have become the avenues with potential for consumption of variety of products and services. This paper suggests about the perceptions of rural and urban consumers about promotional measures adopted by the durable and manufacturing companies. The marketers even tried to find the significant differences between consumers‟ perceptions about rural and urban consumers. Rural marketing involves all the activities of assessing, stimulating and converting the purchasing power in to an effective demand for specific products and services and moving them to the people in rural areas to create satisfaction and improved standard of living in order to achieve the goals of the organization. It is the necessity for the marketers to assess the similarities and differences between the buying behavior of urban and rural consumers. It guides manufacturing companies to bring modifications required in the present marketing strategies to capture the markets i.e., target markets. The main objective of the study is to assess the general attitude of rural consumers with regard to consumer durables. They even suggested that increase in the number of distribution channels, introduction of low-cost products with focus on quality, brand image, family preferences and after-sales service. A study conducted on rural markets and buying behavior of rural consumers. They included the consumables. They found that the proportion of the buyers were not satisfied with the available brands and the majority of the rural people are not satisfied with the available brands. They even found that rural customers prefer to shop at one place and they consider about the brand name and price as the important elements. The manufacturers should make available quality products at affordable prices that are accessible to maximum number of villages. Effective communication and setting up of appropriate distribution channels. In a study by lynn frewer ,janneke de jonge (2003) on the consumer perception about fast food in India. Because of the rapid growth that is occurring in the developing world, which is radically changing the way people eat. It focuses on the understanding of the consumer perception about food outlets and the importance of various factors like taste, quality, food
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and service in young consumers. Fast food which has finally come of age and has become an essential part of the Indian lifestyles who associate with convenient food. India is among the top ten countries in terms of fast food consumption. The marketers are facing stiff competition from international fast food chains and are trying to keep their standards.

The food habits of the young stars are influenced by the many factors such as environment like education, home, availability and their surroundings. The young consumers are more attracted to quality, ambience and hygienic conditions. Consumers of the fast food were asked to express their relating to information availability about maintaining hygiene conditions its impact on their visits to fast food outlets. Consumers still visit fast food outlets for fun, change or entertaining their friends but certainly not as a substitute of home made food.

Consumer acceptance of food served by fast food outlets is critically important for the future growth of fast food outlets in any economy. Consumers demand more and more information related to hygiene issues and nutritional values of the products of fast food outlets. Competition among fast food outlets with respect to the quality of food and customer service will be more tough in the days to come. A large number of consumers says that the fast food outlets must provide the information which they believe will impact their frequency of visit to fast food outlets.The fast food industry which has grown in India as a multinational fast food providers have set up their businesses. It proved to be a perfect eating place for an average middle class who wants to eat out at an affordable price. The fast food trend in India has finally come to age and among the top ten countries in terms of fast food consumption. In a study by Bhagyalakshmi Venkatesh and Varun Kathuriab and Abhishek Goel “ Indian consumer‟s perception towards smart fabrics” revealed that educated and financially affluent consumers responded positively to the concept of smart fabrics. The survey is conducted in Mumbai. The study recommended that smart fabrics may be positioned as a premium product in the apparel segment. It is a revolutionary way of combining smell, sight and touch in to textiles. It distributes benefit laden particles such as fragrances, moisturizers and vitamins. These products are called “smart fabrics”.

The study was done for the company from the textile industry when it thought of setting up of manufacturing capabilities for producing smart fabrics. Some of the Indian companies have
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already provided the smart fabrics but not to the large extent. The companies export fabrics board wanted to check the feasibility of finding a suitable market for smart fabrics in India where western countries are familiar with the smart fabrics. The main objective of the study is to understand the attitude of consumers about smart fabric and even intended to identify the socio economic profile of the segments that have positive perception about the smart fabrics. The attributes such as stain protection, fragrance and anti bacterial properties can be offered by smart fabrics. These fabrics which are developed through sensory perception having functional aspects attached to them. Consumers want style and comfort and wouldn‟t like to lose it for other functional benefits. Consumers are adopting themselves to the changes that are taking place in this modern world and they are getting acquainted with the products that are available to them and they are choosing the best alternatives that provide them all the basic facilities that would help them in retaining the valued benefits. They are easily getting attracted with the products innovative features, status consumption and consumer‟s are looking for unique products i.e., that would make themselves look differentiates them from others and gain excitement from seeking out new things. This study is very pertinent to the fabric industry. Smart fabrics come under the classification of the incrementally new product. Indian consumers showed the intention to purchase fabrics that have sensory perceptions. So such fabrics must be positioned as a premium product. Companies which are producing such kind of products command a price premium and provide the aesthetic and technological features together.

In a study by Sundaresalingam and J. Ashok (ISSN 1450-2267 Vol.27 No.4 (2012), pp. 588592) on customer perception towards Mobicool car coolant oil is the one of the most successful organization who stay very close with their customers in the competitive era. The analyst tried to understand the customer perceptions about the product in the minds of the customers. The main objectives of the study is to find the strengths and weakness of the product compared to its competitors, to analyze the position of the oil company and to study how customers choose their respective oil company. They observed that consumers are more hybrid. And are increasingly price sensitive and they are enjoying the benefits provided by the branded and luxury goods.

Customers are widely aware of their power which raised their expectations and it is becoming more difficult for the companies. In such a situation it is necessary to maintain good relations
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with the customers which will help the companies in attracting and retaining the customers by providing better quality products. Customer perception theory is an attempt to understand how the consumer perception of the product or service influences their behavior. This study tries to understand the reasons for why the consumers make the decisions they do and how they influence the decisions taken by them.

Customer perceptions are dynamic. They are becoming much more important for gaining sustainable competitive advantage. The more experience the customer accumulates, the more his perceptions will shift from fact-based judgements to a more general meaning the whole relationships gain for him. The companies will put strong focus on the product or service consumption. The whole process of consumption and the interactions involved are of the crucial importance.The customer perception changes according to the brand recognition. This will create repetition among the customers in purchasing the products again and again and through logos they can easily recognize the class of product and they can acquire the products with in span of time. Price is the most important element in deciding about the consumer perceptions and they will influence on the customer judgments which will vary from person to person. The information provided by the companies is very important for an organization. These perceptions will influence the customers directly and can impact the problems about the perception of price fairness.

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THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Customer perception: Perception is defined as the process, by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. The consumer will be influenced by many factors like religion, ethnic group, social class, age , gender, values etc, but what is more important is the way how consumer perceives a process, interpret and stores the stimuli. Individuals act and react on the basis of their perceptions, not on the basis of objective reality. Reality is a totally personal phenomenon, based on that person‟s needs, wants, values, and personal experiences. Sensation is the immediate response of the human sensory receptors to basic as light, color etc., and the perception is the making the sense out of the stimuli that they are exposed i.e., approximation of the reality.

Perceptual selection:
Consumers subconsciously exercise a great deal of selectivity as to which of the environment they perceive. An individual may look at things, ignore others and turn aways from many others. In reality, people receive only a small fraction of stimuli to which they are exposed to.

Elements of perception:
1. Sensation: • • • The immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to stimuli. A stimulus is any unit of input to any of the senses. The absolute threshold is the lowest level at which an individual can experience a sensation. 2. Differential Threshold: • • • Minimal difference that can be detected between two similar stimuli Also known as the just noticeable difference (the j.n.d.)

3. Subliminal Perception: Stimuli that are too weak or too brief to be consciously seen or heard may be strong enough to be perceived by one or more receptor cells. Weber’s Law:
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• •

The j.n.d. between two stimuli is not an absolute amount but an amount relative to the intensity of the first stimulus Weber‟s law states that the stronger the initial stimulus, the greater the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as different.

Perceptual Interpretation
The interpretation of stimuli is uniquely individual because it is based on what persons expect to see in light of their earlier experiences, the number of believable explanations they can imagine, and their motives and interests at the time of perception. Stimuli are often highly ambiguous. When stimuli are highly ambiguous, individuals usually interpret them in such a way that they serve to fulfill personal needs, wishes, and interests.

Stereotypes It is tendency to assign to someone solely on the basis of a category of people to which that person belongs. The process of stereotyping helps individuals assign meaning to a mass of data.
Physical Appearances

Positive attributes of people they know to those who resemble them. Important for model selection. Attractive models are more persuasive for some products.
First Impressions

First impressions are lasting. The perceiver is trying to determine which stimuli are relevant, important, or predictive.
Halo Effect

The halo effect refers to the tendency of perceiving people in terms of good or bad and assigning all good qualities to one who is good and bad qualities to one who is bad. For Example: judging a good-looking person wearing Spectacles as more intelligent.

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Research Approach
The approach adopted for collection of data was survey method, survey research is the most common method of collecting data, as it is the best suited for collecting primary data on attitudes, specific and general preferences, consumer perception, consumer awareness, consumer behaviours and other descriptive items.

Research design
The study is descriptive in nature. It looks at the variables in terms of simple descriptive, averages, percentages etc. Such studies help the organization in formulating suitable strategies and bring relevant interventions.

Statement of the problem :

To know the consumer perception towards heritage milk and consumer satisfaction levels on milk.

Sampling Design:  Population: People of Hyderabad  Sample Unit: Individual  Sampling Procedure: convenient sampling

 Contact Method: Personal meeting with people 

Data Source: Primary data

 Sample Size: 120 customer.

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Methods of data collection:
To collect the data and information for analysis, a survey was conducted through a structured questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed with open, closed and five point scale questions.

Sources of data
Primary data The primary data is collected on the basis of survey method with the help of questionnaires, and interviews, personal observation, direct consultation with consumers. Secondary data Secondary data is collected from the books and internet.

Data Analysis Tool
This study considers frequency analysis and factor analysis for data analysis. Factor analysis was undertaken to identify important factor that influence consumer buying behaviour while buying packaged milk.

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1. How long you are using Heritage milk?

Using

Using Heritage Milk less than 1 year 1 - 5 years 5 - 10 years more years Total than 10

Frequency Percent 40 52 19 9 120 33.3 43.3 15.8 7.5 100.0

Using

60

50

40

Frequency

30

20

10

0 less than 1 year 1 - 5 years 5 - 10 years more than 10 years

Using

INFERENCE: On the basis of above table and graph it can be said that 33.3% of the respondents were using less than year, 43.3% respondents were using 1-5 years, 15.8% were using 5-10years and 7.5% respondents were using more than ten years.

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2. How do you know about Heritage milk?

Particulars Friends Neighbours Retailers Agents Others Total

Frequency 17 29 36 28 10 120

Percent 14.2 24.2 30.0 23.3 8.3 100.0

About

40

30

Frequency

20

10

0 Friends Neighbours Retailers Agents Others

About

INFERENCE: On the basis of above table and graph it can be said that 30% of the respondents know about Heritage milk through retailers, 24.2% know through neighbours, 23.3% of know through agents, 14.3% know through their friends and 8.3% know heritage from other.

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3. Currently using milk variant. variant Milk variant Full cream milk(6% fat) Toned milk(3% fat) Homogenized toned milk cow milk(3.5%) Double toned milk(1.5%fat) Total Frequency 22 60 10 10 18 120 Percent 18.3 50.0 8.3 8.3 15.0 100.0

variant

60

50

40

Frequency

30

20

10

0 Full cream milk(6% fat) Toned milk(3% fat) Homogenized toned milk cow milk(3.5%) Double toned milk (1.5%fat)

variant

INFERENCE: On the basis of above table and graph it can be said that 50% of the respondents were using toned milk, 18.3 % of them were using full cream milk, 8.3% were using Homogenized toned milk , 8.3% were using cow milk and remaining 15% were using Double toned milk.

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4. Quantity purchased per day. Quantity Purchase 500ml 1 ltr 1.5 ltrs 2ltrs 2 ltrs+ Not regular Total Frequency 26 55 9 20 3 7 120 Percent 21.7 45.8 7.5 16.7 2.5 5.8 100.0

Quantity

60

50

40

Frequency

30

20

10

0 500ml 1 ltr 1.5 ltrs 2ltrs 2 ltrs+ Not regular

Quantity

INFERENCE: On the basis of above table and graph it can be said that 45.8% of the respondents were using 1 litres, 21.7% were using 500ml, 9were using 1.5 litres,

20respondents use 2 litres, 3respondents use 2 litres + and remaining 7 were using not regular.

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5. Name one single important aspect that made you to continue with Heritage milk Continue Particulars Taste Quality price packing other Total Frequency 46 54 5 8 7 120 Percent 38.3 45.0 4.2 6.7 5.8 100.0

continue

60

50

40

Frequency

30

20

10

0 Taste Quality price packing other

continue

INFERENCE: On the basis of above table and graph it can be said that 45.0% of the respondents were to continue with heritage milk because of quality, 38.0% of people because of taste, 4.2% of them are price, 6.7% of them because of packing and 5.8% were for other.

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6. How do you get your supply of milk? Supply

Supply of Milk Home delivery Booth points convenient stores Others Total

Frequency 59 41 10 10 120

Percent 49.2 34.2 8.3 8.3 100.0

supply

60

50

40

Frequency

30

20

10

0 Home delivery Booth points convenient stores others

supply

INFERENCE: From the above table and graph it can be said that 49.2% of respondents get home delivery, 34.2% of respondents go through booth points, 8.3% were get from convenient stores and 8.3% from others.

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Factor analysis
The study relate up on factor analysis of 17 variables to understand factor influence buying decision of consumer whole purchase pouch milk.

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. ChiSquare Df Sig.

.649

436.542 136 .000

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy - This measure varies between 0 and 1, and values closer to 1 are better. A value of 0.5 is a suggested minimum. Bartlett's Test of Sphericity - This tests the null hypothesis that the correlation matrix is an identity matrix. An identity matrix is matrix in which all of the diagonal elements are 1 and all off diagonal elements are 0. You want to reject this null hypothesis. Taken together, these tests provide a minimum standard which should be passed before a factor analysis (or a principal components analysis) should be conducted.

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Correlation Matrix

S i g . 1 -tailed Taste Price Flavo ur Packi ng Thick ness Qualit y Adver tiseme nt Promo tional activit ies Availa bility of milk Nearn ess to the dealer Home delive ry Servic e provid ed by dealer Relati onship with dealer Trust on the Brand Brand image Fresh ness Time of delive ry

Taste

Price .232

Flavo ur .007 .440

packi ng .000 .088 .423

Thick ness .171 .161 .490 .456

Quali ty .120 .214 .009 .044 .223

Adve rtise ment .000 .091 .345 .000 .281 .072

Prom otion al activi ties .102 .108 .378 .000 .155 .035 .000

Avail abilit y of milk .035 .311 .171 .001 .275 .001 .000

Near ness to the deale r .003 .358 .014 .073 .056 .006 .027

Hom e deliv ery .012 .005 .496 .009 .000 .009 .000

Servi ce provi ded by deale r .487 .169 .227 .050 .451 .043 .143

Relat ionsh ip with deale r .411 .239 .034 .084 .180 .000 .003

Trust on the Bran d .214 .148 .144 .004 .010 .199 .105

Brand image .044 .371 .246 .000 .070 .191 .000

Fre shn ess .435 .144 .477 .006 .268 .019 .000

Time of deliver y .022 .274 .042 .004 .126 .011 .002

.232 .007 .000 .171 .120 .000 .440 .088 .161 .214 .091

.423 .490 .009 .345 .456 .044 .000

.223 .281 .072

.102

.108

.378

.000

.155

.035

.000

.401

.181

.252

.097

.076

.001

.038

.001

.000

.035

.311

.171

.001

.275

.001

.000

.401

.330

.137

.007

.005

.301

.203

.161

.191

.003

.358

.014

.073

.056

.006

.027

.181

.330

.000

.069

.000

.327

.005

.494

.275

.012

.005

.496

.009

.000

.009

.000

.252

.137

.000

.411

.000

.001

.014

.331

.258

.487

.169

.227

.050

.451

.043

.143

.097

.007

.069

.411

.003

.285

.277

.394

.174

.411

.239

.034

.084

.180

.000

.003

.076

.005

.000

.000

.003

.161

.000

.043

.026

.214 .044 .435

.148 .371 .144

.144 .246 .477

.004 .000 .006

.010 .070 .268

.199 .191 .019

.105 .000 .000

.001 .038 .001

.301 .203 .161

.327 .005 .494

.001 .014 .331

.285 .277 .394

.161 .000 .043 .059 .001

.059

.001 .015

.000 .002 .000

.015

.022

.274

.042

.004

.126

.011

.002

.000

.191

.275

.258

.174

.026

.000

.002

.000

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Communalities Initial 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 Extraction .693 .681 .655 .571 .701 .646 .577 .660 .587 .458 .678 .606

1.000 .684 1.000 .532 1.000 .553 1.000 .692 1.000 .640 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Taste Price Flavour Packing Thickness Quality Advertisement Promotional activities Availability of milk Nearness to the dealer Home delivery Service provided by dealer Relationship with dealer Trust on the Brand Brand image Freshness Time of delivery

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Total Variance Explained

Extraction Sums of Squared Initial Eigenvalues Loadings Compone % of Cumulativ % of Cumulativ nt Total Variance e% Total Variance e% 1 3.108 18.285 18.285 3.108 18.285 18.285 2 2.535 14.914 33.199 2.535 14.914 33.199 3 1.637 9.627 42.826 1.637 9.627 42.826 4 1.229 7.231 50.057 1.229 7.231 50.057 5 1.074 6.316 56.374 1.074 6.316 56.374 6 1.030 6.061 62.434 1.030 6.061 62.434 7 .973 5.724 68.158 8 .852 5.010 73.168 9 .768 4.516 77.684 10 .643 3.780 81.464 11 .618 3.634 85.098 12 .537 3.162 88.260 13 .526 3.095 91.356 14 .465 2.735 94.091 15 .425 2.498 96.589 16 .315 1.856 98.445 17 .264 1.555 100.000 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings % of Cumulativ Total Variance e% 2.427 14.278 14.278 2.337 13.745 28.022 1.658 9.756 37.778 1.509 8.878 46.656 1.397 8.219 54.876 1.285 7.559 62.434

The six item shows all the factors extractable from the analysis along with their eigenvalues, the percent of variance attributable to each factor, and the cumulative variance of the factor and the previous factors. Notice that the first factor accounts for 18.285% of the variance, the second 14.91% and the third 9.62%. and fourth 7.23%,fifth 6.31% and sixth 6.o6% .All the remaining factors are not significant.

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Component Matrix(a) Component Taste Price Flavour Packing Thickness Quality Advertisement Promotional activities Availability of milk Nearness to the dealer Home delivery Service provided by dealer Relationship with dealer Trust on the Brand Brand image Freshness Time of delivery 1 -.503 2 3 .365 .537 .334 -.535 .321 -.430 .342 .362 .506 -.490 .348 .420 .550 .586 -.336 .301 -.346 .336 .487 -.446 .314 4 .497 .522 -.561 .371 .531 -.321 5 6

.325 .679 .310 .581 -.748 -.446 .408 .436 .406 .485

-.592 -.435 .426 .421 -.640 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. a 6 components extracted.

The table below shows the loadings of the 17 variables on the 6factors extracted. The higher the absolute value of the loading, the more the factor contributes to the variable. The gap on the table represent loadings that are less than 0.5, this makes reading the table easier. We suppressed all loadings less than 0.5.

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Rotated Component Matrix(a)

Component 1 Taste Price Flavour Packing Thickness Quality Advertisement Promotional activities Availability of milk Nearness to the dealer Home delivery Service provided by dealer Relationship with dealer Trust on the Brand Brand image Freshness Time of delivery .546 .330 .759 -.724 -.624 .668 .647 .567 .742 .471 .444 .346 .649 .697 .495 -.459 .330 .367 .420 -.363 .363 .448 .830 .672 -.309 2 3 4 .779 .809 5 6

.304 .442

.326

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. A Rotation converged in 8 iterations.

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Factor analysis description:
The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) was 0. 649and significant Bartlett‟s Test of Sphericity strongly supported the use of factor analysis. An exploratory principle component factor analysis was done using SPSS 15.0. Varimax with Kaiser Normalization and factor loading 0.5 or above on the items was taken into consideration. The idea of rotation is to reduce the number factors on which the variables under investigation have high loadings. Rotation does not actually change anything but makes the interpretation of the analysis easier.

1. Brand Equity: Trust on the Brand, Brand image plays a major role consumer to buy Heritage packaged pouch milk and they have positive perception about heritage milk. This factor accounted for 14.278percent of variance. 2. Convenience: Consumers are comfort in getting milk from convenient heritage parlour, and agents deliver heritage milk to their door step. This factor accounted for 13.745percent of variance. 3. Service: Consumers are happy with the Heritage milk service provided by dealer.This factor accounted for 9.756 percent of variance. 4. Taste: Taste and flavour both the factors were influencing the consumers to continue with Heritage milk. This factor accounted for 8.878 percent of variance. 5. Thickness: Thickness of milk influences the consumers to buy heritage milk were, compared to other milk. This factor accounted for 8.219 percent of variance 6. Price: Consumers prefer heritage milk because of taste and quality, most of the consumers are happy and few were unhappy with the price of heritage milk. This factor accounted for 7.559 percent of variance.

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Findings
Findings From the consumers  It was found from the survey that majority of the respondents of them are housewives and in the age group of 31-40.

 Majority of respondents are using heritage milk in the recent years, around 33% of the respondents are using Heritage milk from less than 1 year, around 43% of the respondents are using from 1-5 years  The survey shows that the access to Heritage Milk is quite convenient for most of the respondents.  The opinion about quality is excellent  Most of the respondents were influenced by the taste and quality of the Heritage Milk.  Half of the respondents of them consider the price of the Heritage Milk as reasonable.  The packaging is view as good by the consumers.  Out of 120 respondents a majority of the respondents came to know about the milk by the Neighbours, friends and retailers.  Retailers are playing a major role as a source of information about Heritage milk to the consumers. After retailers, neighbours(word of mouth) are providing information about Heritage milk.

 About 49% of the Heritage consumers are getting supply of milk through Home delivery and 34% of milk through booth points, this shows there is good coverage of milk points in various places.

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CONCLUSION
From the above findings we can conclude that Heritage is doing better in marketing of the milk by keeping into consideration the aspects like price, quality, availability but it is somewhat lacking in its promotional activities as per the survey conducted to the consumer with regard to their perception towards Heritage milk products in Hyderabad. The taste and quality are playing the major role in attracting and retaining the consumers. Majority of the consumers are highly satisfied with taste and quality as there is consistency in the manufacturing of the milk. The remaining attributes like thickness, flavour, relationship with dealer, trust on the brand, brand image, price, packing, freshness etc, are the most satisfied the most of the respondents. It is competing with other brands by acquiring a greater market share so it is necessary to take the steps with regard to promotional activities to both the retailers and consumers to build its brand name and acquire a greater market share.

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Limitations of the Study
The following were the main limitations of the study:-

Most of the respondents hesitate to give information but how ever an attempt is made to collect the data systematically. The respondent‟s response to the given questionnaire was sometime biased and the study was based on the assumptions that the information provided is correct.

The sample was restricted to only 120 due to the limited time. This may be very small compare to total universe. generalizing the result. So the study also suffers with the limitations of the

Scope:
The area of study of this project was done in the Hyderabad city. The study was mainly concentrate on the customer perception on the particular Product (Milk) of Heritage Foods (India) Limited. The key focus area of the study is to assess the reason behind buying behaviour of this Segment of customers. The sample of customers for my study will be around 120. The sample will include all the buyers of Heritage milk irrespective of age, sex and profession. The basic aim behind my study is to find out the key to make the band most proffered brand by studying the need and preference of customers.

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SUGGESTIONS
“Consumer is king” is the traditional beliefs amongst the Indian businessmen. It holds good even today and will be more so in the highly competitive days ahead. The emphasis on quality relates not only to product quality but also to the quality of service.  Due to the increasing competition the company has to adopt new and improved promotional strategies to attract new and retain existing customers through better relationship with the retailers.  It is better to conduct a continuous or periodic market research to identify the position of the market and to know about the changes what customers want in their products.

 During the survey it has been observed that the purchasing decision are mostly guided by the availability of the product. So the company has to make optimum use of its present distribution system to make the product available through agents and retailer outlets throughout the day, if possible.  With a view of motivating employees and agents, it is recommended that the company provide bonus, retirement benefits and reward respectively for doing their job better.

 It has been observed that sometimes retailers suggest the consumer for buying the particular brand because they get higher commission as compared to other brands. So, it is recommended to the company that should think for giving attractive commission to the retailers if possible, otherwise company could give some reward if they achieve more targets.

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Annexure
WEBLIOGRAPHY 1. www.heritagefoods.co.in 2. www.google.com 3. www.dairy.com 4. www. ebscohost.com 5. www.2dix.com

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QUESTIONNAIRE

CONSUMER PERCEPTION TOWARDS HERITAGE MILK (1) How long you are using Heritage milk a. less than 1 year b. 1-5 years c. 5-10 years d. more than 10 years ( )

(2)

How do you know about Heritage milk? a. Friends b. Neighbours c. Retailers d. Agents e. Others

(

)

(3)

Currently using milk variant. a. Full cream milk (6% fat) c. Homogenized toned milk (3% fat) e. Cow milk (3.5% fat) b. Toned milk (3% fat) d. Slim milk (0.05% fat)

(

)

f. Double toned milk (1.5% fat)

(4)

Quantity purchased per day a. 500 ml d. 2 Ltrs b. 1 Ltr e. 2 Ltrs+ c. 1.5 Ltrs f. Not regular

(

)

(5)

Name one single important aspect that made you to continue with Heritage milk a. Taste b. Quality c. Price d. Packing e. ( )

(6)

How do you get your supply of milk a. Home delivery C.Convenient stores b. Booth points d. Others

(

)

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Kindly rate the following attributes of Heritage milk brand on 5 point scale (Where 1Highly satisfied, 2-Satisfied, 3-Satisfied nor Dissatisfied, 4-Dissatisfied, 5-Highly dissatisfied)

(7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24)

Taste Thickness Flavour Packing Price Quality Advertisement Promotional activities Availability of milk Nearness to the dealer Home delivery Service provided by dealer Relationship with dealer Trust on the Brand Brand image Freshness Texture of curd

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Considering the above attributes can you give any suggestion for improvement.

Details of respondent: Age group : a. Below 20 yrs c. 36-50 yrs Gender Family income/Month : : a. Male b. 20-35 yrs d. Above 50 yrs b. Female ( ) ( )

a. Below Rs.10, 000 b.Rs.10,000-25,000 c. Rs.25,000-50,000 d. Above Rs.50,000 ( )

Occupation

:

a. Student d. Business

b. House wife e. Others

c. Service ( )

Name and Address

:

Phone no. & email

:
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Company profile
The Heritage group was founded in the year of 5th June; 1992. It was promoted by Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu (Ex-Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh) along with relatives, friends and associates. Heritage Foods India Limited (HFIL) is the one of the fastest growing private sector enterprises in India. HFIL has three business divisions like Dairy, Retail and Agri-business. It is the one of the flagship company. HFIL has one infrastructure subsidiary Heritage Infra-Developers Limited and other associate companies such as Heritage Fin lease limited, Heritage International limited and Heritage Agro Merine private limited. HFIL was incorporated as a public limited company under the companies Act 1956 on 5th June 1992. Its corporate office is at

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. HFIL has a primary object of manufacturing and supplying quality milk and milk products to the diverse populace. The promoters have long and varied experience in administration as well as management of business. The annual turnover of Heritage foods Rs.4.38 cores in 1993-94, the annual turnover has crossed Rs.900 crores during the financial year 2009-2010. Heritage Foods has its headquarters in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Presently Heritage‟s milk products have market presence in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Maharashtra and its retail stores across Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Integrated agri operations are in Chittoor and Medak Districts and these are backbone to retail operations. In the year 1994, HFIL went to Public Issue to raise resources, which was oversubscribed 54 times and its shares are listed under B1 Category on BSE (Stock Code: 519552) and NSE (Stock Code: HERITGFOOD) Heritage Foods (India) Ltd (commonly known as Heritage) is one of the largest private sector dairy enterprises in Southern India. The company has recently expanded into food and grocery retailing under the brand name "HERITAGE Fresh". The brand 'Heritage' touches the lives of 500,000 farmers and 600,000 customers every day and the brand 'Heritage fresh' touches the lives of 1,000 farmers and 17,000 customers every day Heritage was founded by Nara Chandrababu Naidu the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1992 with the objective of "bringing prosperity to the rural families through co-operative efforts”. At present, Heritage has market presence in all the southern states in India.

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The Dairy Brand – Heritage: Heritage by choosing Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh as its primary procurement base of milk, had taken full advantage of the large, high yielding and crossbred cow population found in the area, which has become the secret of the success story of Heritage. Today Heritage has network in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra for procurement and distribution of quality milk and milk products. Heritage products are also distributed in the state of Kerala. Heritage has drawn plans to be a pan-India player in the dairy segment. Mission Bringing prosperity into rural families of India through co-operative efforts and providing customers with hygienic, affordable and convenient supply of " Fresh and Healthy " food products. Vision
To be a progressive billion dollar organization with a pan India foot print by 2015.

To achieve this by delighting customers with "Fresh and Healthy" food products, those are a benchmark forqualityinthe industry.

We are committed to enhanced prosperity and the empowerment of the farming community through our unique "Relationship Farming" Model.
To be a preferred employer by nurturing entrepreneurship, managing career aspirations and providing innovative avenues for enhanced employee prosperity

Corporate Governance: Corporate Governance is a system with which, an organization is structured. Corporate Governance integrates multi functions of an organization to fulfill the objectives with in the
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framework of all the stakeholders, society, Law of Government, and people at large. It is based on the principles of integrity, equity, transparency, accountability and commitment. Good governance practices stem from the culture and mindset of the organization. Heritage is committed good governance that creates long-term sustainable shareholder value. Company’s Philosophy on Corporate of Governance: Heritage has integrated the value system in all spheres of activities involving people from all functional areas. It has initiated to comply with code of conduct for all the directors, senior staff and functional heads. The main focus is on highest levels of integrity, transparency responsibility and accountability. It is about best practices of business to be imbibed in to the culture of the organization and complying with value systems, ethical business practices, laws and regulations to achieve the main objectives of the company. Heritage respects and provides information to stake holders about the performance and strives to be ahead of competition by taking all the risk assessment well in advance. At Heritage the focus is on its core strengths, value systems, hard working and strategic moves to be in the leading edge of new technology. Subsidiaries & associates: The following are the subsidiaries and associates of the Heritage Foods (India) Limited; 1. Heritage Infra Developers 2. Heritage Finlease 3. Heritage International 4. Heritage Agro Merine

Heritage Finlease: Heritage Finlease Limited was incorporated under the companies Act 1956 on 23rd of February 1996 and commenced business from 2nd day of April 1996. The Registered office is located at 6-3-541/c Panjagutta, Hyderabad-500082.

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The following are the Board directors of the company: Sri D. Seetharamiah, Chairman, aged 84 years, a commerce graduate from the Andhra University and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, is the senior partner of Brahmayya & Co., a leading Chartered Accountants firm. He has been in practice for the last five decades. He had occupied several coveted positions, which include, Membership of the Southern Regional Board of Reserve Bank of India, Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chairmanship of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust Board etc. He is also on Board, of several Companies. Dr. A. Appa Rao, Director, aged 84 years, a B.Sc.(Agri), Ph.D. in Agriculture (Madras University), completed his post doctoral work at Kansas State University as TCM-USA Scholar, retired as the Vice Chancellor of the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University. He is an author of around 40 papers published in the fields of Plant Pathology and Agricultural Research & Education. Being associated with the IDRC financed Agricultural Research Management (Asia) Project, was instrumental in implementing SEARCA, Philippines for over 5 years. He is also a Director in several Companies and a member of several committees including the ICAR. Dr. V. Nagaraja Naidu, Director, aged 63 years, an M. Com, M. Litt and a PhD. (Financial Management), starting from Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad in 1972 held various positions in reputed Universities, Viz., Professor, Dean Director etc., and taught in the fields of Finance and Business Economics at Post graduate and Doctorate levels for about 25 years. He had been the Registrar (Administrative head) of the Dr B R Ambedkar Open University for about 10 years. He has been associated with the Company since inceptionand has been able to utilize his intimate understanding of the rural socio economic scenario to strengthen the milk procurement systems and strategies of Heritage, which contributed to the current status of Heritage as a leading player in South India. Dr. N. R Sivaswamy, Director, aged 74 years, a LL.B, M.A. (Economic), M.A. (Public Administration), Ph.D. in Economics (University of Wisconsin, U.S.A) and a Fellowship holder of the Ford Foundation, U.S.A, is a leading Advocate and Tax consultant and author of a book titled "Employment potential of the Indian Industrial Sector" and several other articles and Journals. He retired as the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

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Sri N. P Ramakrishna, Director, aged 64 years, who has substantial experience in the transport business, has a thorough understanding of the systems of milk procurement and transportation and has enabled Heritage to strengthen its main milk procurement base at Chittoor, Bangalore and nearby areas. He is also the Managing Director of Hotel Ramakrishna Private Limited situated at Chittoor and was Chairman of the Chittoor Cooperative Sugar Factory. Smt N. Bhuvaneswari, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, aged 48 years, a B.A, is a dynamic leader who has extensive experience in business and has been successfully steering Heritage towards growth and better prospects. She is also a Director in several other Companies. Sri Lokesh Nara,Executive Director, aged 28 years, completed his Master‟s Degree in Business Administration from Stanford University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University. Before joining the Board of Heritage Foods, he was associated with the Company as a VicePresident of the Retail division. Before joining Heritage Foods, he worked with the World Bank as a Junior Professional Associate where he completed various projects including an eGovernance Capacity Building program for the government of Ethiopia, and e- Governance Capacity Building program for the governments of South Sudan and Kenya. He has over three and half years of experience in the areas of strategic business and information technology. The Company was registered as Non Banking Financial Institution on 5th Day of December 1998 by Reserve Bank of India as a Deposit Taking Company under the category Hire Purchase Company.

At Present the company is allowing Dairy Loans to Small Farmers under Tie up arrangement with Heritage Foods (India) Limited. The Company has been earning profits from inception and functioning in conformity with the rules and directions of Reserve Bank of India.

The Company holds a Corporate Agency for General Insurance through United India Insurance Company Ltd since 2003. It secured sizeable business under this Insurance Agency Services.

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Regions of HFIL: The following are the regions of the Heritage Foods (India) Limited; 1. Hyderabad 2. Bayyavaram 3. Tirupathi 4. Bangalore 5. Sangavi

Products: Heritage's dairy range of products amongst others include milk, curd, ice cream, butter milk, flavoured milk, doodhpeda, dairy whitener, skim milk powder. The Fresh @ range of products include 177 sku's of fresh fruits and vegetables, 150 sku's of in house bakery products and the private label Farmers' Pride includes cereals, pulses, staples, and spices. Heritage Slogan: The tag line of the Heritage Foods India Limited is “Health and Happiness” Certifications of HFIL: Heritage Foods India Limited certified to ISO-9001 and ISO-22000.

Certification of ISO-22000:

We are committed to procure; process & supply safe and whole some milk and milk products to our valued customers through: Implementation of food safety management system in raw material selection Continual up gradation of technology, systems and services. Ensuring best hygiene and sanitation practices by complying with statutory and regulatory requirements.

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Providing resources to achieve measurable objectives through continual improvement.

Certification of ISO-9001:

We are committed to achieve customer satisfaction through hygienically processed and packed Milk and Milk Products. We strive to continually improve the quality of our products and services through up gradation of technologies and systems. Heritage's soul has always been imbibed with an unwritten perpetual commitment to itself, to always produce and provide quality products with continuous efforts to improve the process and environment. Adhering to its moral commitment and its continuous drive to achieve excellence in quality of Milk, Milk products & Systems, Heritage has always been laying emphasis on not only reviewing & re-defining quality standards, but also in implementing them successfully. All activities of Processing, Quality control, Purchase, Stores, Marketing and Training have been documented with detailed quality plans in each of the departments. Today Heritage feels that the ISO certificate is not only an epitome of achieved targets, but also a scale to identify & reckon, what is yet to be achieved on a continuous basis. Though, it is a beginning, Heritage has initiated the process of standardizing and adopting similar quality systems at most of its other plants. Commitments of HFIL: Milk Change in life styles of rural families in terms of       Regular high income through co-operative efforts Women participation in income generation Saved from price exploitation by un-organized sector Remunerative prices for milk Increase of milk productivity through input and extension activities Shift from risky agriculture to dairy farming
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Producers

   

Heritage Financial support for purchase of cattle; insuring cattle Establishment of Cattle Health Care Centers Supplying high quality Cattle feed

Customers       Timely Supply of Quality & Healthy Products Supply high quality milk and milk products at affordable prices Focused on Nutritional Foods More than 4 lakh happy customers High customer satisfaction 24 hours help lines (<10 complaints a day)

Employees     Enhancing the Technical and Managerial skills of Employees through continuous training and development Best appraisal systems to motivate employees Incentive, bonus and reward systems to encourage employees Heritage forges ahead with a motto "add value to everything you do"

Shareholders Returns  Consistent Dividend Payment since Public Issue (January 1995) Service  Highest impotence to investor service; no notice from any regulatory authority since 2001 in respect of investor service  Very transparent disclosures

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Suppliers   Doehlar: technical collaboration in Milk drinks, yogurts drinks and fruit flavoured drinks Alfa-Laval: supplier of high-end machinery and technical support Focusing on Tetra pack association for products package. Society       Potential Employment Generation More than 1500 employees are working with heritage More than 9500 procurement agents got self employment in rural areas More than 5000 sales agents associated with the company Employment for the youth by providing financial and animal husbandry support for establishing Mini Dairies Producing highly health conscious products for the society

Quality Policy of HFIL: “HFIL is committed to achieve customer satisfaction through hygienically processed and packed milk and milk products”. It strives to continually improve the quality of products and services through upgradation of technology and systems”. Heritage's soul has always been imbibed with an unwritten perpetual commitment to itself, to always produce and provide quality products with continuous efforts to improve the process and environment. Adhering to its moral commitment and its continuous drive to achieve excellence in quality of Milk, Milk products & Systems, Heritage has always been laying emphasis on not only reviewing & re-defining quality standards, but also in implementing them successfully. All activities of Processing, Quality control, Purchase, Stores, Marketing and Training have been documented with detailed quality plans in each of the departments.

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Today Heritage feels that the ISO certificate is not only an epitome of achieved targets, but also a scale to identify & reckon, what is yet to be achieved on a continuous basis.

Though, it is a beginning, Heritage has initiated the process of standardizing and adopting similar quality systems at most of its other plants.

FOOD SAFETY POLICY: Heritage Foods India Ltd. is committed to procure process & supply safe and wholesome milk and milk products to our valued customers through:  Implementation of food safety management system in raw material selection.  Continual upgradation of technology, systems and services.  Ensuring best hygiene and sanitation practices by complying with

statutory and regulatory requirements.  Providing resources to achieve measurable objectives through

continual improvement.  Communicating our food safety policy to all our internal and external customers.

Nature of activity: The primary activity of HFIL is to procurement, processing and supply of milk and milk products.

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INDUSTRY PROFILE INTRODUCTION TO DAIRY INDUSTRY: Milk is the food, which contains vitamins, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Every human being consumes neither milk at one time nor the other. World health organization suggests that the infants should be feuded compulsorily with mother milk because it provides all the necessary fats proteins etc, which is essential for the growth of the baby. If mother is not available they suggest giving animals milk. This shows what major role milk is playing in our daily life. India is the second highly populated country and is about to occupy the first position. In India the major source of income is agriculture. Dairying is one of the best instruments for bringing up the socio-economic development of the country. Developing countries like India rural people of indigenous character for a long time because consumer tastes for articles of foods so fat delicacies are concerned. Daily developing in India has been most spectacular in recent years. While chief Contribution Factors to this achievement is the An and pattern of DAIRY cooperatives. No less Creditable has been a concerned effort of the national DAIRY development and the India DAIRY development in India since 1970, Dairying is considered as a whole when it contains element like production , procurement and marketing „kaira district co-operative milk producers union limited‟‟ adopted this integrated approach . This integrated approach in dairying is proved to be successful with „„AMUL‟‟ and later this integrated approach came to known as „„ANAND PATTERN OF DAIRY COOPERATIVE‟‟. Major types of milk available are as follows: Whole milk energy value is 387 calories and fat content is 3.5% semi skimmed Milk Energy value is 270 calories and fat consistent is 1.7% skimmed Milk. Energy value is 194 calories and fat content is 0.1%Homogenzed milk, all the fat is spread evenly no cream line is found. Evolution of the Dairy in India Dairy has been part of the list in India since the ancient Vedic times; the

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modern Dairy Industry took roots in 1950 with the slave of bottled milk in Bombay from array Milk colony. The first large scale milk products factory was started in 1954 at an and by Amul a co-operative venture with the assistance of UNICEF for the production of milk powder, table butter and ghee. These products were made from the buffalo milk. The world‟s largest dairy development program ever undertaken the operation flood undertook the gigantic task if upgrading and modernizing milk production procurement processing and marketing. With assistance providing by the world food program, the European Economic Community, the World Bank and other internal agencies, designed and Implemented by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the Indian Dairy Co-operation (IDC) was launched in July 1970. Its basic concepts comprise the Establishment of co-operative structure of Amul pattern. Dairy Industry in Andhra Pradesh With implementation of operation flood-3 programmer in Andhra Pradesh In tempo of dairy development has gained movements pro viding a new thrust to eradication of poverty and unemployment in rural areas and brought greater awakening the confidence among milk producers to manage a loan affairs though Dairy Co-operatives to help a new area of rural programs. Genesis of Dairy Industry Planning form organized diary industry in Andhra Pradesh was conceived in 1951 and a pilot milk supply scheme was started in 1960-60 as a paradise for the integrated milk project. Hyderabad and Vijay Wada for which the UNICEF gifted Dairy equipment valued at a one corer with the objectives of linking up and supplying surplus milk from producing area to consuming area. Andhra Pradesh Dairy Development Corporation was formed on 2-4-1974 as a State Government undertaking for the application of commercial principal with the mission of industrializing rural dairying and extensive infrastructure was development to procure milk from all corners of the states to tap higher to tapped milk of land with main objective generating greater employment opportunities to the rural people where they are based.

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Andhra Pradesh Dairy development Co-operative federation constructed in October 1981 and active involvement of programmer is organizing milk production.

Co-operative Societies The main objective of any from of business organization like sole proprietor ship, partnership and joint stock Company is to make profit. But Co-Co-operative society is organized with the main objective of rendering service to its members. Persons belonging to the same localities or profession joined together voluntarily to achieve a common economic objective. Definition of co-operation:“As a farm of organization where in persons voluntarily associate together as human being on the basis of equality interest of themselves”.

Dairy Co-operatives With the commencement of operation flod-2 programmer 2161 village dairy Co-operative sectors have been organized with the enrollment of 1,62,000 members under the farmers indication programs, 863 milk producers were deputed to on study working of An and pattern Dairy Co-operative society. 17,480-fodder milk storage‟s were supplied to the product development program. The milk procurement by the Co-operative societies

accounted for 60% of the total milk procurement in the state.

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