Panasonic Appliances India realigning its products to augment sales of its automatic cookers in nation's Northeast region, focusing on user-friendly and region-specific products in cooking range

Nevin Barich

July 1, 2013 (The Telegraph) – Japanese home appliances major Panasonic Appliances India Company Limited has realigned its products to augment sale of its automatic cookers in the Northeast.

The pioneer automatic cooker-maker, which has a strong presence in southern India, is now looking east, focusing on user-friendly and region-specific products in the cooking range.

"We have realigned our range of automatic cookers to suit the Northeast market. A new model that comes with a momo-making function using the double deck steamer has been launched, as the delicacy is popular here. We have also introduced a model that has an additional cooking pan with a two-dish separator pan, available in metallic silver and burgundy," Rajesh V, senior assistant general manager (marketing service), Panasonic Appliances India, told The Telegraph at the launch in Guwahati recently.

Panasonic's automatic cookers come in capacities ranging from 150gm to 4.5kg. "Such variation in cooking capacity ensures that our products cater to small or big families and even a 100-seater restaurant," Rajesh said.

A market leader in the cooking segment, Panasonic started operations in the Northeast a decade back and currently has over 40 dealerships in the region.

"We have a 70 per cent market share in the cooking range. However, a lot remains to be done in terms of augmenting sale of automatic cookers, as consumers here still prefer pressure cookers, which consume 40 per cent more power. So our strategy will be to make the consumer aware of the user-friendly features in our cooking range and their advantages over the conventional cookers," Niranjan Shenoy B., general manager (sales and marketing), Panasonic India, told this correspondent.

Automatic cooker sales in the Northeast are still low compared to states in southern India. "In the south, our rice cookers sell thick and fast. In Andhra Pradesh, we sell over 50,000 automatic cookers per month. In the Northeast, we sell only 1,500 to 2,000 cookers per month. So, we are focusing on product realignment and aspects such as functionality, value-addition, convenience and safety in a bid to boost sales here," Shenoy added.

The appliance major is also planning to increase manpower in the region. "Additional manpower will be required as we plan to boost sale of our cookers," the company's managing director, Hidenori Aso, said.

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