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Random workplace surveys in the UK have proven that the staff can get pretty steamed up over hot drinks. Nine years ago, London Underground staff, in fact, threatened to go on strike when kettles were introduced to replace tea urns. Their grouse: it will make them late for shifts. When the credit crunch dried up the free watering holes in many companies, a survey by uSwitchforbusiness.com in 2010 claimed that trouble was brewing. It warned: "Cutting out the free cuppas may add to the bottom line, but there may be a far greater price to be paid in staff morale." Tea or coffee - free or not - is the preferred poison at work.

Pulses are important food crops due to their high protein and essential amino acid content. Pulses are used as food and animal feed. India is the world’s largest producer, importer and consumer of pulses. Many exporting countries are dependent on India for marketing their pulses. Even though India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of pulses still there is a gap of 2-3 million tonnes between the production and consumption of pulses in the country and the gap is met through imports.

Basmati Rice

Basmati Rice is a simple grain, yet throughout history it has been on royal menus of various cultures as the main dish. From the pilav of Turkey, polou of Persia, pilafs of the Steppes, the isotos and paellas of the Mediterranean, to the pulau of India it has been served to great sultans, maharajahs, shahs and emperors. Spices, nuts, dried fruits, vegetables and herbs are a natural for Basmati rice. Basmati rice transforms rice dishes into extraordinary meals. Also known as the “Queen of Rice”, this highly aromatic grain that is long and elegantly thin, has originated from Vasumati which means earth recognized by its fragrance. The full exposition of the word is from Hindi. Bas originating from Prakrit Vas which has a sanskrit root- Vasay connoting aroma; and mati from mayup meaning ingrained from the origin. Common usage has changed Vas to Bas while joining bas and mayup the latter changed to mati.. Thus the word Basmati originated.

Setting price is a critical component of successful marketing. Vegetable growers have a greater level of control than most other growers over marketable yields, input costs and price. The closer a grower is to the consumer, the more control over price the grower has. Buyers perceive price to represent value of the product. Underpricing, or pricing too low, gives the perception that the product is inferior, while setting the price too high often drives customers away. Many growers make the mistake of setting the price too low at the beginning of the marketing season when competition is less and demand is strong and then find it difficult to increase price later in the season. Before setting price, gauge the level of competition and the consumer demand for your product. For example, organic produce may have a stronger demand in urban areas, so prices can be set at a higher level. Also, early-season produce, such as tomatoes, has high demand with little competition in most markets, resulting in a higher price range.

Potato is a major food crop, grown in more than 100 countries in the world and it is one of the major commercial crops grown in India. India ranks third by contributing around 7.5% to the world’s production. During 2006-07, 27 million tonnes was produced in an area of about 1.5 million ha. However, potato consumption per capita in India (14.8 kg/head/year) is one of the lowest in the world and hardly one per cent of the potato is processed.

Among fresh vegetables, onion, tomato and mushroom are reported to be highly export competitive. India ranks first in the world accounting for around 21 per cent of the world area, planted to onion. Globally, the country occupies the second position, after China, in onion production with a production share of around 14 per cent. Productivity of onion is low at around 11.4 metric ton/ha, which is significantly lower than the world average of 17.3 metric ton/ha. Besides India and China, the other major onion-producing countries are Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Japan, Brazil, United States of America and Spain. It is produced for both domestic consumption as well as exports. India produces all varieties of onion - pink, red, yellow and white, big or small.

Sugar originated from the Arabic word “sharkara” and is derived from the sanskrit world “sharkara”. Sugar is an important part of the daily diet and  forming a class of edible substances which includes  sucrose, lactose, and fructose. It provides the human body with requisite carbohydrates and is basically extracted from sugar cane and sugar beet.  Found in fruits, honey, sorghum, sugar maple and in several other sources, it is the main ingredient of candy which is loved by children the world over. Yet, it has been  blamed for causing tooth decay and excess consumption of sugar has been associated with a host of ailments like diabetes, obesity, weight gain, depression, joint pain, fatigue and insulin resistance and even cancer.

Price mechanism is an economic term that refers to the buyers and sellers who negotiate prices of goods or services depending on demand and supply. A price mechanism or market-based mechanism refers to a wide variety of ways to match up buyers and sellers through price rationing.An example of a price mechanism uses announced bid and ask prices. Generally speaking, when two parties wish to engage in a trade, the purchaser will announce a price he is willing to pay (the bid price) and seller will announce a price he is willing to accept (the ask price).

Agriculture occupies a significant place in the economy of India. It contributes nearly 20% to the Gross Domestic Product [GDP] and provides employment to around two-thirds of nation’s population Agricultural commodity exports account for nearly 20 per cent of the total export earnings of the country. The agricultural produce sector has been one of the most important components of Indian economy. Considerable progress has since been achieved in scaling new heights in the production of foodgrains, commercial crops like cotton, sugarcane, tea etc., fruits, vegetables and milk. The increasing trend of agricultural production has brought, in its wake, new challenges in terms of finding market for the marketed surplus. There is also pressure from all segments of agricultural economy to respond to the challenges and opportunities that the global markets offer in the liberalized trade regime. To benefit the farming community from the new global market access opportunities, the internal agricultural marketing system in the country also needs to be integrated and strengthened. In particular the market system has to be revitalized to a) provide incentives to farmer to produce more; b) convey the changing needs of the consumers to the producers to enable production r burning; c) foster true competition among the market players and d) to enhance the share of farmers in the ultimate price of his agricultural produce.

Sales Management

According to American marketing Association “Sales management is the planning, direction and control of personal selling, including recruiting, selecting, equipping, assigning, routing, supervising, paying and motivating as these tasks apply to the personal sales force.”

Promotion Mix

The main objectives of promotion mix are to seek buyer’s attention towards the product with a view to : (1) arouse consumer interest in the product (2) inform consumer about the product availability (3) inform the consumer as how is it different from others.

Product

Anything that possesses utility is described as goods. A product is both what a seller sell and what a buyer has to buy. 

According to Phillip Kotler: A product is anything that can be offered in a market for attention acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. It includes physical objects, services, persons, places, organisation and ideas.

According to Stanton: A product is a set of tangible and intangible attributes, including packaging, colour, price, manufacturer’s prestige, retailer prestige and services which the buyer may accept as offering satisfaction or wants or needs.

Pricing

Pricing goods and services is a critical job to maximize the profit of business organizations. Price is the most important determinant of the profitability of the business. Setting the right price can influence the quantities of various products or services that consumers will buy, which in turn determines the total revenue and the profit of the business. Price is the only element in the marketing mix of a firm that generate revenue.

The price of a product or service is the number of monetary units a customer has to pay to receive one unit of product or service (Simon, 1989).

Demand & Sales Forecasting

Demand: Demand usually means effective desire/ willingness for a product. It normally refers to the quantity of a product or services which the buyers are likely to purchase at different prices in a given market at a given time.

The laws of demand states that the price and quantity demanded are inversely related, other things remaining the same (income, tastes, habits, weather, season, region, price of related commodity etc.).

Consumer Behaviour / Buyers Behaviour

Marketing management can succeed easily and smoothly of the behaviour of present & potential consumers are understood properly. Marketing success or failure depends on target customers individual and group reactions. The individual buyer behaves in a different design and pattern depending upon the internal & external marketing environment. The individual attitude & motivation along with economic conditions influence the consumers to behave in a certain fashion. The consumer behaviour is primarily understood in the content of consumption goods. The factors influencing their behaviours are demographic, economic, sociological, cultural and psychological.
The aim of marketing is to need and satisfy target customers needs & wants. The field of consumer behaviour studies how individuals, groups and organizations select, buy, use & dispose of goods, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy their needs and desires.

Grading and Standardization

Grading and standardization is marketing function which facilitates the movement of produce. Grading standards for commodities are laid down first & then the commodities are sorted out according to the accepted standards.
Grading means grouping the products into different classes (which posses the same characteristics) in accordance with the predetermined standards. Grading as the division of products into/commodities into classes made up of units possessing similar characteristics of size and quantity. Grading follows standardization. It is a sub function of standardization.

Marketing Channel

Marketing Channel is an organised network of agencies and institutions which in combination perform all the activities required to link producers with users to accomplish the marketing tasks.
Marketing channel is the route taken by a product as it moves from the producer to the consumer.
It is a part of value chain – what the customers are prepared to pay for goods and services and all activities carried out in chain.
Marketing channels are sets of interdependent organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use/consumption. Channels normally describe a forward-movement of products from sources to user. Reverse flow channels is used to reuse or recycle products, and to recycling or disposal of solid waste (ecological goods).

Marketing Information System (MIS)

Market information is crucial to effective marketing management. Business success now requires a sustainable and cutting-edge knowledge base. Information becomes knowledge when it is discriminated, classified, processed and assembled in an appropriate manner. Knowledge is the final entity in the sequence.
Marketing decisions are based on marketing information and research. The scientific decisions are based always on the facts and figures. The information based decisions are useful for solving day to day problems. Marketing information are the facts and figures required for taking the marketing decisions. Marketing information assists marketing decisions in right perspectives. The marketing managers are expected to get all the relevant information. They have to evaluate the information for their purposes. The utilities of each source of information are assessed to have optimum use of the resources. Good information improves decision making process. The marketing managers have to make decisions based on available information and try to collect adequate and correct information from all sources. Establishment of an effective marketing information system (MIS) is essential for adequate and correct marketing decisions.

Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy is an integral part of marketing planning. In modern day business terms, strategy refers to the matching of the activities of an organization to the environment in which it operates and to its own resource capabilities.

Definition: Marketing strategy is the complete and unbeatable plan, designed especially for attaining the marketing objectives of the firm/business unit. The marketing objectives indicate what the firm wants to achieve, the marketing strategy provides the design for achieving them. e.g. marketing objective of a business unit in the next year (2016) to achieve sales revenue of Rs. 2,000 crore and net profit will be 15 per cent on sales revenue. Then it is the job of marketing strategy to indicate how and where from this sale and profit will come, which product lines/products/brands will accomplish this task and how?

Concept and Meaning of Market

Agricultural marketing management offers key insights into the agricultural and rural development today. Agricultural marketing and its management is an essential element of every economic activity. It is a most creative, dynamic and challenging activity for every kind of enterprises. Agricultural marketing management has significantly changed and it comprises numerous aspects of the needs of the customers over the selling and distribution of agricultural goods and services to customer and adds value to agricultural products and facilitates marketing and agribusiness opportunities in the economy. It deals with identifying and meeting human and social needs.