MARKET
Any market is sensitive to perceptions, especially when there are health concerns. Add children and parents into the equation, and you have a level of sensitivity that can reach boiling point.
So perceptions among consumers of a snack category dominated by children is not an ideal market condition for any brand. It is not a scenario in which a company can even begin to think about product extension or market growth, without having to consider their implications. Uswatte’s flagship brand, Tipi-Tip, was one such product. But it now has the kind of name recognition any brand would enjoy. Added to that, it practically defines the market for snack foods.
In the mid 1990s, with many artificial snacks entering the market, demand was high but there were hurdles aplenty. Tipi-Tip had become a household name, and the brand name soon became the generic term for all snacks. But this posed a problem for the brand. Although the company had been manufacturing Tipi-Tip using natural ingredients, this had not been conveyed to consumers. Medical practitioners had diagnosed health implications for patients who consume artificially manufactured snacks, and so there was resistance to purchasing snack foods in the marketplace. A trend had been building up among consumers, too. They were concerned about their health in selecting food items. The demand for food items produced from natural ingredients was increasing rapidly.
So in 2005, Uswatte decided to take remedial action. First, it obtained Sri Lanka Standards certification for its flagship product and promoted it alongside natural foods. It was on this basis that the company built the Tipi-Tip brand, reassuring consumers about its health benefits and dissociating it from artificial products that were for sale in the market. The message that Tipi-Tip was manufactured by using only natural and nature-identical ingredients, and that it was harmless helped it regain its market share. Sales have been on the rise ever since; and with this steady growth, the brand has consolidated its position in the market. Today, Tipi-Tip enjoys over 80% of the snack-foods market in Sri Lanka.
Alongside Tipi-Tip are jelly products such as Glucorasa and Din-Din, wafer-based biscuits, hard-pressed powdered candy with mint and menthol flavours, products made from natural potatoes, and potato pellets fried and blended with savoury flavours.
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ACHIEVEMENTS
The Tipi-Tip brand is extremely popular among the new generation, specially children and teenagers. Every year, 23 million packets of Tipi-Tip are consumed in Sri Lanka.
And since its relaunch in May 2005, Tipi-Tip has taken the snack-foods market by storm. Its pack now clearly states its nutritional value on the reverse, to reinforce its health value.
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HISTORY
Uswatte commenced business as a confectioner that manufactured and marketed Glucorasa – a glucose and gelatin sweet that was known as a jujube. Glucorasa laid the platform for Uswatte’s manufacturing aspirations with a factory equipped with state-of-the-art machinery that was geared to satisfy Sri Lankan taste buds.
The Uswatte Confectionery Works commenced business in 1956. Its 50-year history closely resembles a gemstone – it has, through the years, been transformed from an uncut stone into a precious gem which casts its glow on everything around it.
Its vision, today, is to build on its successes and high standards, and pursue a path of expansion in the confectionery sector. It plans to venture overseas, to establish a long-term competitive edge and maximise returns for its business partners. Its mission is dedicated to a promise of delivering the best quality products to consumers – and as a family concern, it is committed to creating food products that fulfil local tastes. It intends expanding its operations to facilitate exports to India, Canada and the Maldives – and to produce many other food items, from candy to breakfast cereals. Its team works round the clock to meet its goals, which is a sign of total commitment to its customers.
Today, the Uswatte Group, which comprises three companies, is one of the largest local family-owned food-manufacturing entities in Sri Lanka, with revenue in excess of Rs. 600 million per annum. It manufactures and markets quality snacks and confectionery products – and it is the undisputed market leader in candies, toffees, peppermints, instant drinks, wafers, snacks and jellies.
Uswatte has always aimed high. Its objective was to become a truly professional food manufacturer specialising in categories that range from candy to breakfast cereal. And now it plans to extend its operations to Canada, India, Japan and the Maldives. From production to marketing, Uswatte prides itself on producing quality products that are offered at competitive prices.
In 1983, Uswatte came up with an idea of introducing a snack item to the Sri Lankan market, knowing that snacks were fast becoming popular amongst consumers in other parts of the world. Thus, Uswatte became the pioneer of the snack-foods market in Sri Lanka by launching Tipi-Tip as a fun product which could be consumed conveniently.
The popularity of the newly created snack spread rapidly within a very short period of time. Demand exceeded the company’s projections and Uswatte decided to commission a second plant to meet this rising demand.
Uswatte is the only company to produce snacks using 100% natural and nature-identical ingredients in Sri Lanka. Initially, green onion and cheese flavours were introduced – and later, as popularity grew, spicy flavours were added to the Tipi-Tip range. Tipi-Tip has dominated the snack foods market for almost three decades – ever since it was launched, in fact.
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PRODUCT
Tipi-Tip comes in three flavours: green onion, cheese and spicy. These three flavours are available in three different shapes: stars, balls and hearts. All Tipi-Tip products are available in fifteen-gramme packets.
Tip-Tip’s main ingredient is maize grit. Maize grit and water mixture undergoes an extrusion process to form different shapes. Extrusion is a process by which food materials are forced to flow under one or more of a variety of conditions of mixing, heating and shearing, through a die which is designed to form and puff-dry ingredients. It is a hygienic, rapid and versatile process that produces a variety of food products.
High Temperature Short Time (HTST) extrusion is used to create expanded foods that have a porous, open structure. During extrusion, super-heated water content in the mixture is flushed out and the product is passed through a die. Finally, the products are exposed to ambient pressure conditions. This sudden vaporisation leads to an expansion of the product into a network of cells. Extrusion cooking results in the gelatinisation of starch, denaturation of protein, inactivation of raw food enzymes that lead to food deterioration, the destruction of naturally occurring toxic compounds and diminishing microbial counts in the final product. HTST cooking minimises browning, the inactivation of vitamins and essential amino acids, and the production of off-flavours.
When the manufacturing process is completed, the product is cut into shapes and passed through an oven to control moisture. It then goes into a tumbling drum where natural and nature-identical flavours are pre-mixed with vegetable oil and then sprayed.
Tipi-Tip products are packed using a nitrogen flush process to remove oxygen from the packaging. Nitrogen helps maintain the fresh flavour of the product by excluding oxygen and atmospheric moisture, which can cause staleness. The packs themselves are made from aluminum foil. And Uswatte ensures high quality through its extrusion process (a thermal procedure), automated weighing system and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
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RECENT DEVELOPMENT
During the past decade or so, there has been a considerable increase in consumer knowledge of health and nutrition. Tipi-Tip has taken on the virtues of a nutritional product by adding vitamins and a mineral pre-mix – so much so that 100 grammes of Tipi-Tip provides a third of a child’s recommended daily allowances (Source: Industrial Technology Institute).
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PROMOTION
In its early stages, Uswatte’s strategy was to promote Tipi-Tip as a fun product. Therefore, all above the line and below the line activities were focused on this concept. And indeed, the strategy worked and Tipi-Tip became an instant success in the Sri Lankan marketplace. Another factor that contributed to the success of Tipi-Tip was its easy-to-pronounce, catchy name and its instantly recognisable packaging.
Creating demand by placing highly visible and recognisable in-store displays that prompt impulse buying was also part of Uswatte’s marketing strategy. And it undertook sampling exercises at various events where its principal target groups 
gathered, placing the product in the consumers’ mindset in an instant.
Tipi-Tip, known to consumers as a fun product, is now positioned as a nutritional energy snack. The relaunch of Tipi-Tip as a flagship brand of Uswatte was thus pursued with a concept change in mind. Since Tipi-Tip was loved by children, it gave Uswatte an opportunity to communicate the nutritional benefits of the snack, especially to mothers.
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BRAND VALUES
Tipi-Tip is considered one of Sri Lanka’s most irresistible snack-food items, offering consumers both quality and nutritional value. It is thought of as a fun-filled snack that provides nourishment and can be consumed conveniently.
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THINGS YOU DONT KNOW ABOUT TipiTip
♥Some 23 million packets of the popular snack are consumed in Sri Lanka each year.
♥ Tipi-Tip’s share of the snack-foods market in Sri Lanka exceeds 80%.
♥ The snack contains more Vitamin C than a medium-sized apple.
♥ Vegetable oil used in the snack is low in saturated fatty acids and is cholesterol-free.
♥ Yellow maize is Tipi-Tip’s main ingredient. Maize has a higher protein content than rice or wheat.
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www.uswattegroup.com
