Tirupati Laddoo Ghee: Ghee’s ‘dropsy scare’ moment? Will the Tirupati Laddoo scandal change consumer habits?

Most categories sell products in various forms. In some categories, they are sold loose (from jute bags) to locally packaged brands to nationally known brands. Brandification examines the extent to which consumers use brands when using a specific product category, rather than just loose or locally packaged products.

When it comes to take away food, almost 90% of Indian households use branded salt. Simply put, it’s not all that expensive to switch from loose salt to packaged salt, especially if the brand is ubiquitous. The same may not apply to products like wheat flour (atta/maida), masalas, ghee or cooking oil.

In 1998 there was a “dropsy scare.” Especially in northern India, consumers suffered from dropsy, a type of swelling or edema. Lancet reported: “A dropsy epidemic – caused by adulterated edible mustard oil – has struck India. “Although the epicenter is in Delhi, more than 50 people have died and nearly 2,200 have fallen ill across India so far.”

Food adulteration is nothing new for Indian consumers. But this was new and the consumer was in for a rude awakening after the dropsy epidemic. This was the Fillip cooking oil the brands were looking for. At the end of the 1990s, the share of all refined cooking oil brands was around 20%. More than 70% of consumers preferred to buy their cooking oil from their local “oil depot”. The dropsy scare changed that. Is ghee next?

Much has been written about the ghee that the Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple in Tirupati procured to make its rationed laddoos. The question remains: How will the lay consumer interpret this information? Will she begin to doubt the quality of the ghee she uses in her daily cooking? Will this laddoo ghee scandal be a turning point for ghee brands, just like the dropsy scare was a turning point for sophisticated cooking oil brands? “Moment marketing” is a buzzword. Every brand manager tries to find a “moment” to create an Instagram reel or Facebook post that triggers the “Tirupati Laddoo Ghee” moment. These are often just random actions. But sometimes there is an opportunity to use the moment effectively. Hats off to Amul, for example, for taking out a full-page advertisement in newspapers listing all the ghee offerings. Consumers who saw the ad made a connection even though the laddoo scandal was not mentioned at all in the ad. But a timely message – just before festival season – was brought home.

It is difficult to change deeply ingrained eating habits. The same goes for the ingredients we buy to prepare our food. But the Tirupati laddoo ghee scandal could be our “dropsy scare” moment, where consumers rethink their purchasing decisions and brands end up reaping rich rewards.

The author is an independent brand coach.