Why does Mumbai consume so much Chakki Atta?
Chakki is the Indian word for a mill. Households used them to ground wheat to produce atta (flour) which is used to make rotis.
One of our prospects (we run an innovation consultancy) posed the question headlined. It was more a throwaway statement out of frustration. It intrigued us, given most of our peer group had moved to packaged atta decades back. We decided to investigate. The traditional atta chakki was made of stone and hand-powered.
Not all of them looked as pretty as the one in the picture. As India got urbanised, these became machine operated and I can still picture my grandfather covered in fine white powder having done the duty of taking the wheat to the chakki shop to be ground to flour. But that was from another era or so one thought.
According to our prospect, extremely well off Bombay families were not only sticking to chakki atta, it seemed the trend was gaining strength. Which perhaps explains this:
This was really getting interesting. An entire category seemed to be going in reverse gear. Imagine the Pillsbury Dough Boy sitting at a flour mill grinding wheat! (Though one must say ‘packaged chakki fresh atta’ reads like an oxymoron and how).
So, we did what we do. Spoke to some of the key suspects.
Our daughter goes to a tony IB school in South Mumbai and we sent out a message to the class informal group asking: packaged atta or chakki atta?
22 parents responded: 2 Organic, 10 packaged, 10 chakki!
We reached out to the last group and fixed Zoom calls with six Moms. We listened and we learnt.
Usage of chakki atta driven by tradition & experience
Tradition, ‘in the blood’, that’s the way it has been
Influence of moms and mom-in-laws
Packaged atta - ‘They mix things’, ‘milawat’, ‘kachra’ (impurities) is handed down
Checking the wheat guarantees quality – ‘picking your own gehu (wheat)’
Rotis are lighter, easier to digest and much fluffier
Joint families - No reason to rock the boat. Moms and mom-in laws take care of it. It’s convenient.
Own experience with packaged atta
Not much difference to huge difference in quality of rotis
Soft, white
Difficult to ‘belo’ (roll). It’s elastic because of maida mixed. (Maida is also flour but it’s refined and that makes the end product, rotis, soft and white. Atta is coarser and so are the rotis, seen as the real thing).
Brands have not managed to change perceptions
‘Never know what goes into packaged atta’
‘How would you know, right? How would you know what’s gone into that packaged atta’
‘..we avoid it as far as possible..there is fair amount of maida..is what I have gathered’
Chakki shops are available conveniently (2 mins, 7 mins)
Fears
Atta being switched at chakki (the shop where the wheat is ground)
Cleanliness and hygiene of chakki
5 kgs will become 4.5 kgs
But countered by - ‘people like me’ do the same – ‘half of South Bombay is getting it done the same way’
What did this tell us?
This group of Indians we interviewed were all in the top 1% of India’s income pyramid, they all (without exception) travel abroad for their holidays, all have varied global exposure (many have done their higher education abroad and some have lived and worked outside India).
Tradition has a massive influence on Indian purchase decisions. Sometimes marketers get misled by the torn jeans and Gucci bags.
The joint family effect is still very strong, even if the unit stays in different houses. Traditionally, moms & mom-in-laws made the house rules and the younger ones followed. This effect still holds strong for certain communities.
Perception is reality: A well known adage to marketers but it can make or break a brand. In this case, brands have failed to mitigate the concerns (one may go so far to say they have given up and joined the bandwagon).
There are always opportunities if one listens carefully enough to one’s consumer, as we can sense from the fears listed.
Marketing is fun but it also needs hard work, not all problems can be solved by running Google Ads.
Let me know your thoughts. One is always listening and learning.
I am a partner at Accelero. We deliver growth ideas, tested for market fit, at speed.
Why does Mumbai consume so much Chakki Atta?
Great, very interesting insights not only into atta preferences but also highlights the power of qualitative data! Also, I am a wildlife conservationist and in my work feel that 'perception is reality' is absolutely true - no matter what is 'really' happening with regard to an animal, what people perceive to be it as is what matters - as that bears functional relevance to them. Such as traditions, cultures, taboos etc!
The multinationals are trying smart to make a quick buck on their own claims of traditional. I can see the phrases Ayurveda, herbal, natural etc being easily hijacked in food, cosmetics domain despite having faar from significant % of ingredients of such origin. If you check the statutory ingredient list in the packs you would need a microscope to find the natural ingredients! In products like Atta the problems of local manufacturers would be there in regard to maintaining shelf life that consumers are used to in packaged goods. Packaged goods have to use preservatives.