A successful international expansion plan for expansion can be targeting the emerging markets of South-East Asia where the concentration of Indian people is higher. So, by doing analysis of the packaged food industry in countries in South East Asia, it was found out that Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar are the potential countries where the company can expand in the first phase. • For the initial phase of expansion, since we have 50 crores allotted for international expansion, the plan is to initially expand through partnerships and strategic alliances • The main competitors of Ramalingam Foods in these countries are Mavalli Tiffin Foods (MTR), an Indian counterpart which is a subsidiary of Orkla ASA, A Norwegian conglomerate covering a wide part of the globe encompassing the Nordics, Eastern Europe, Asia and Europe, Indofoods Sukses Makmur in Indonesia. • Currently Ramalingam Foods have a limited variety of mixes and SKUs – North Indian Mixes, South Indian mixes, Chutney Powder, dessert mixes and instant coffee mixes. The proposed plan is to expand in selected South East Asian markets with the existing SKUs and introduce a few products on the basis • Printing the instructions in the packets in native languages as well helps to reach a wider consumer base and attracts local consumers as well

1. Title
International Market Expansion Plan ofRamalingam Foodsdebriefed byNexusSolutions
Case Understanding
A successful fastfoodrestaurant,RamalingamFoods,setupinBombaywasfamousfor itsauthentic
freshSouthIndianbakesandfilteredcoffees.Duringthe emergencyperiod,theyfoundoutanother
wayof diversifyingtheirbusinessportfolio –theystartedsellingauthenticDosa-idli batterand
readymade chutneysandmade decentmargins.
Now,whenthe sonof Mr VenkateshRamalingamtookovercharge inthe 90s, he wantedto expand
the business.Withthe low self-life andperishabilityof wetidli batters,he made some innovations
and preparedaready-mix sortof powderedDosaidli batter,which became aninstanthitasittook
care of the perishabilityissue.
Whenthe managementnoticedthatsome peopleare buyingthe mixesandexportingthemto
foreigncountries,theystartedtoponderoverthe possibilitiesof takingthe brandto the nextlevel.
So,theyhiredour companyforconsultancyregardingexpansionininternational emergingmarkets.
BCS SolutionSummary
A successful international expansionplan forexpansioncanbe targetingthe emergingmarketsof
South-EastAsiawhere the concentrationof Indianpeople ishigher.
So,by doinganalysisof the packagedfoodindustryincountriesinSouthEastAsia,itwas foundout
that Thailand, Singapore,Malaysia, Indonesiaand Myanmar are the potential countrieswhere the
companycan expandinthe firstphase.
 For the initial phase of expansion,since we have 50crores allottedforinternational
expansion,the planistoinitially expandthroughpartnershipsand strategic alliances
 The main competitorsof RamalingamFoodsinthese countries are Mavalli TiffinFoods
(MTR), an Indiancounterpart whichisa subsidiaryof OrklaASA,A Norwegianconglomerate
coveringa wide partof the globe encompassingthe Nordics,EasternEurope,Asiaand
Europe, IndofoodsSuksesMakmur in Indonesia.
 CurrentlyRamalingamFoodshave alimitedvarietyof mixes andSKUs – North IndianMixes,
SouthIndianmixes,ChutneyPowder,dessertmixes andinstantcoffeemixes. The proposed
planis to expandinselectedSouthEastAsian marketswiththe existingSKUsandintroduce
a fewproductson the basis
 Printingthe instructionsinthe packetsinnative languagesaswell helpstoreacha wider
consumerbase andattracts local consumersaswell
Solution
Reasons behind targeting South East Asia
The keyreasonbehindthe possiblebusinessexpansionplans are majorlyasfollows:
 Ease of Trade: There are free trade agreementssignedwiththe SouthEastIndian countries.

2.  Easy ofSupply Chainand Transportation facilities:Costsrelatedtosupplychainand
transportationislesser, asthe plannedexpansionismajorlyfocussedonthe basisof a
franchise model.
 Higher presence ofIndian populationin SEA countries:The Indianpopulationinthese
countriesisan importantfactorbehindaswell.The populationstatsforthe targeted
countries are:
Myanmar: 29 lakhs (5.3%)
Singapore:5.1 lakh (9.1%)
Indonesia:2.3 lakh (0.1%)
Thailand: 2.5 lakh (0.5%)
Malaysia: 20 lakhs (7%)
Proposed Expansion in Myanmar
In case of Myanmar, the populationisgrowingandthisprovidesasizeable marketforventuringinto
the country withthe highestIndianpopulationamongthe five countrieszeroedupon.
Increase in daily wage: A 33% increase indailywage in 2018 impliedthatthe country’sminimum
dailywage stoodat $4.80, or approx.Rs 300-350 - this is theperfect zoneforthe company to launch
its productsasthey are priced at a reasonablerate.
Availabilityoflogistics: Most importedproductsarrive bysea throughYangonPort (around60% of
the total imports).The developmentof logisticshubsinThilawaPort,andDawei Portare already
underprocessandthis will smoothenthe supplychainandlogisticsissuestoa greatextent.
Demand for processedfoodproducts: There have alreadybeenademandforBritishprocessed
foods.Moreover,local F&Bprocessingbrandsare absent. So,thisclearlyindicatesthatpeopleare
receptive tothe processedfoodsindustryandentryintothe marketwon’tbe thatdifficult.
Governmentregulations:Withincreasedimportanceto FDI, Governmenthave specifiedregarding
itsstance onthe overseasimports. Free trade agreementswithASEAN countries isapluswhichwill
helptolowerthe tax burden.
India’sAct East policy: India's exports to Myanmar increased at a CAGR of 17.9 per cent to
US$ 1.2 billion in 2018 and isexpectedtorise higherinthe upcomingyearswithrelaxedtrade
regulations.
Product Mix for Expansion
RamalingamFoodscanenterintothe Burmese marketswithan enhancedmix of SKUsconsisting
bothof the IndianandBurmese cuisine.Intermsof Indiancuisine,itcanenterwiththe already
available productswhereasinBurmese front,itcanintroduce
1. Readymade Mohinga – A famousrice noodles servedwithafish-basedsoup.For
transportationandenhancingshelf life,the rice noodlesandthe powderedfishmix canbe
packedtogether.
2. Burmese Indian Dosa batter: AlongsideitsIndianvariant,the Burmesedosabatterisfamous
inthe country.So,the presence of the Burmese variantof the IndianDosaenhancesthe
local connect.
Mode of Expansion

3. RamalingamFoodsexpectstoenterintopartnership withlocal Burmese distributiongiants,
Pahtama Group.Withan alreadyestablishedlogisticsbase andstrongsupplychainnetwork,
RamalingamFoodscanminimize SC&Logisticsrelatedcosts. Withover1000 employees,Pahtama
Group isa commonname inthe Myanmar households.
Proposed Expansion in Singapore
Singapore isgloballyacclaimedforitsirresistible passionforfoods. Singaporeansspendapprox.$7.7
billiononF&B.So,enteringthe Singaporeanmarketsisof immenseimportance if the company
wantsto pace upits revenue growth.
High Imports: Singapore exportsnearly90% of the foodit consumes.So,thisprovidesabrilliant
scope for the packagedfoodimportstodominate the Singaporeanmarkets.
Increase in householdmonthlyincome:Householdmonthlyincomehave beenonthe steadyrise
for quite alongtime
Busy schedules:The busyscheduleshave forcedpeopleto resorttothe readymeals.So,people in
Singapore are more receptive tothe waytheysee the readymealsandthe processedfoodsthat
save theirtime.
India Singapore Trade relations:Singapore is India’s2nd
mostpreferredtrade partnersamongthe
ASEAN countriesintermsof revenue,accountingfor38% of itstotal trade withthe ASEAN
counterparts.
In FY 2018-19, the bilateral trade went past the 20 million USD barrier.Withsigningof
ComprehensiveEconomicCooperationAgreement(CECA) andfurthertariff cuts, the marketseems
to be evenmore boomingthanever.
Product Mix for Expansion

4. Withthe highestpercentageof Indianpopulationamongthe SEA countries, itcanbe undoubtedly
claimedthatall the variantscan be safelylaunchedinthe Singaporeanmarkets.Forthe local flavour,
twovariantswithlimitedSKUscanbe launchedinitiallyasa part of pilotphase of the expansion.
1. Satay: The ready-made grilledmeatisquite popularinSingapore.The preparedfilletscanbe
easilytransportedfromIndianshoresandhave ahighshelf life.
2. Bak Chor Mee (Noodleswithmincedmeat):Anotherfamousdelicacyof Singapore,itis
essentiallybelongingtothe non-vegetariannoodlescategorywhichalsohave highmarket
potential andcanbe a high revenue grosser.
Mode of Expansion
RamalingamFoodsexpectsto formstrategicallianceswithHosen GroupLtd (Hock SengFoods)
who are specializedfordistributionofpackagedfoods.Witha rich knitsupplychainnetworkacross
the globe,HosenGrouphave a wide consumerreachwhichcan be leveragedbythe Ramalingam
Foods.
Proposed Expansion in Indonesia
Convenience forthe customers: Withbusyconsumersandincrease insingle-personhouseholds, the
processedfoodmarketscanleverage onthiscertainconsumerinclination.
Opennessto newervariants: Indonesianpeople are opentonewerflavoursandvariants. So,
launchinganewfoodproduct won’tbe a bigdeal if the firmcan focuson healthconsciousnessand
hygiene aspects.
Product Mix for Expansion
Exceptthe coffeemix (sinceIndonesia isthe fourth largestproducerof coffee,so launching coffee
mix won’tgeneratesufficientrevenueforthefirm), the othervariantscan be launchedintheir
respective 200 gms,500 gmsand 1000 gms variants.Otherthanthat, local mixescanalsobe
Sop Kambing: A popularsoupconsistingof celery,tomatoandmeat,apowderedmix consistingof
the ingredientscanbe of huge popularityinthe local Indonesianhouseholdduringthe winters.
Sambal: The chilli-basedsauce isquite popularinIndonesiaandcan be an instanthit.
Mode of Expansion
In Indonesia,RamalingamFoodswill form partnershipswithTigaraksaSatria,the largest
nationwideindependentdistributors.Witha nationwidecoverage,the expansionbecomeseasierto
be put intoeffect.
Proposed Expansion in Thailand
There has beenasteadyincrease inthe consumptionof processedandready-mix foodsinThailand
due to busierconsumerlifestyles.So,there’sa huge untappedmarketthathasa highgrowth
potential.
Product Mix for Expansion

5. 1. Pad Thai (InstantNoodles):Stirfriedrice noodlesdishthatisquite commoninThailand,it
has a highmarketpotential speciallytoattractthe Thai localsinabsence of majorlocal food
processingbrands.
2. Instant Massaman Curry Powder: Predominantlyusedforpreparationof Thai chicken
recipe inthe Thai households,it’sanessential ingredientforthe householdsaswell.
Mode of Expansion
The firmplansto partner with GeetaGroupdistributors(Thailand) whichspecializesin
transportationof processedconsumable foodstorestaurantsall acrossthe countryas well the retail
supermarkets.So,the firmcanleverage fromthe wide consumerbase of the parentcompanyinthe
country.
Proposed Expansion in Malaysia
Product Mix for Expansion
All the current13 products are expectedtobe launchedinMalaysia. Apartfromthese,2 local
productsare alsoplannedforlaunchina limitedquantityforapilotprojecttogauge consumer
preferences.
1. Nasi Lemak Mix(Rice ofCoconut Milk):One of the famousitemsof Malaysia(possiblythe
national dishof Malaysia),itisa staple consume forthe manyMalaysianhouseholds.
2. Roti Channai (Instant Mix): Asper reviews,this mix isalsoquite popularamongthe people
inMalaysiaand hence launchingmixesof the productcanhave a positive impacton
brandingandrevenue generationaswell.
Mode of Expansion
In Malaysia, Ramalingam Foodswants tie up with the iconic H.L. Young Group whohave beena
leaderinthe F&B sectorin Singapore, Malaysia,existingover50yearsand specialisesindryfood
distributionnetwork.
Organizational Structure
Since,the firmisexpectedtoexpandthroughpartnershipsandstrategicalliances mostly,so the firm
isexpected tohave one corporate headineach of the 5 proposedcountries.The organizationis
expectedtofollowa functional organization structure since there is noplansfor settingup
manufacturingunitsinthe countriesinitially.The corporate headis expectedtooverseethe
functional andoperational efficiency.
IT Infrastructure
The firmis expectedtoimplementa Hadoopnetworktokeepthe data distributionmanagementas
itscheap andcloudbasedin Indiaheadoffice southBombay.So,the overseasdatacanbe efficiently
trackedfrom the central server.
Further Expansion Plans
If the expansionplansgoasplanned andthe projectedrevenuesgeneratedfromthe respective
countriesare as perRamalingamFoods’plan,the companycan go forfurtheraggressive expansion.

6. Road Ahead
1. Increase in produce mix:Besidesthe existing13itemsinthe product lines,productline can
be extendedtocereal mix,breakfastmix,ready-to-eatcurries,snackmixes,spicesand
masalain a phase wise manner.
2. Aggressive expansioninMiddle East and UK: The firmissuggestedtogo fora relatively
conservative expansionmodel while expandinginSouthEastAsiatogauge the marketvalue.
Once it realizes itstrue market potential outsideIndia,it can go for aggressiveexpansion
in the remainingtwo zoneswhere there isa high proportionofIndianspresent viz UAE
(27%) and England(2.3%)
Conclusion
RamalingamFoodsinitiallyplanstoenterintoSouthEastAsiaafter judgingall prosandcons and
hence,choose 5 SouthEast Asiancountrieslike Myanmar,Singapore,Indonesia,Thailandand
Malaysiawhere there isa significantpresence of Indianpopulation.Moreover,asperthorough
marketanalysis,these are the countriesconstitutingof local people whoare highlyreceptive to
cuisine fromothercountriesaswell.
Postthat,the firmcan go on foraggressive expansioninthe remainingtwozonesviz.Middle East
and UK withan enhancedvarietyof productmix andSKUs forachievingmore global marketshare in
the longrun.