Context

A leading German manufacturing company that makes machines and foundry technology wanted to enter the South Asian market (India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) with its premium spice grinding equipment. The objective was to build a significant presence in the region through a focused go-to-market approach.

The challenge

When the client was thinking about entering South Asia’s fragmented spice processing ecology, they had to deal with a lot of unknowns:

• Not being able to see much of the very fragmented and informal spice production landscape
• Not knowing how spice makers decide what to buy and what tools to use
• Need to figure out how competitive the market is and find areas and client groups with a lot of potential
• Different rules, expectations for sustainability, and ways of doing business in different markets
• High risk of entering without accurate market intelligence backed by data

How Kepler Works

Over the course of three months, Kepler Ventures planned and carried out a disciplined, insight-driven market research and entrance assessment.

Step 1: Look at the spice industry in South Asia

• A big-picture look at the spice business in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka
• Market size and segmentation by processor size, use, and location
• Looking at rules and regulations, trade flows, production trends, and what drives demand

Step 2: Look at how customers act and buy

• A thorough look at how spice manufacturers set up their businesses and how they buy things
• Mapping out what buyers want, what they expect, and what they need but don’t have for grinding equipment
• Looking at how decisions are made and how things are bought

Step 3: Analyzing the Grinding Equipment Market and Competition

• Forecast for the size of the market and growth of spice grinding equipment
• Benchmarking competitors and suppliers from both domestic and international players
• Finding areas with a lot of demand and groups of customers that are most important

Impact & Outcome

• Clearly identifying high-potential regions and client segments made it possible to create a solid, data-backed market entry strategy.
• Structured competitive information and buyer behaviour insights lowered the risk of entering the market.
• Helped the client make sure that what they were delivering met the needs of the local industry, trends in sustainability, and the way things really worked.