Introduction to Company
Murree Brewery Co. Ltd was established in 1860. It’s the first modern beer breweries established in Asia. Its Alcoholic products were popular among British troops. Soon with the passage of time, brewery non-alcoholic products and beverages became popular.
Currently, non-Muslims and foreigners are permitted to consume alcohol. The company continuously upgraded its manufacturing plants and matured its Malt Whiskies. Non-alcoholic products like malt, top juices, water, jam, ketchup, vinegar, frootopia also encouraged by good financial results.
Interview
The interview was conducted with Mr. Attique Akram khan who is Marketing Manager at Murree Brewery. This was a Twenty-five minutes interview that revolved around pricing strategies of how the company is pricing its products.
The initial five minutes of the interview included the introduction of the company which was told by Mr. Attique. The next twenty minutes includes the Q& A session. Following questions were asked:
Interviewer: Sir, What’s the pricing strategy for your products?
Interviewee: Well, we have a diversified range of products. Our pricing strategy depends upon the three basic factors: costing of product, market competition, and profit margins. Looking upon these factors we set prices. On the other hand, we also look upon other factors i.e. market analysis and consumer behaviour. Because the fact is that in beverages consumer do impulsive buying.
Interviewer: Any pricing model which you use?
Interviewee: We used focused pricing for our products. We have a diversified range of products from beverages to Murree Glass and Murree Sparkletts and their pricing depends upon the cost which we bare.
Interviewer: How aligned is your organisational strategy with your pricing strategy?
Interviewee: Well, we make products to meet and exceed consumer expectations by performing the correct task. And, I believe our organisational strategy is perfectly aligned with our pricing strategy. Since we have a monopoly of malts in Pakistan and we make profits especially in this beverage product line. Ultimately, if our price is greater than the product cost, then we lose market share. And Brewery is never going to lose market share.
Interviewer: Does your product offer the right number of discounts at the right price?
Interviewee: Since we offer the right price for the right product. So, we have no discount policy for this.
Interviewer: What are the potential negative consequences that occur when the implementation of a new pricing strategy?
Interviewee: Our organisational hierarchy follows a top-down approach. So, we have to follow decisions that are made by sea-level management. The company is very keen on market share since there is no customer loyalty in beverages. Therefore, our pricing strategy is mainly dependent on consumer behaviour and we believe in the fact that price comes from quality. That’s a reason our long-term view reflects our short-term priorities. Particularly, talking about negative consequences we don’t face any.
Interviewer: How you stay Competitive using the pricing model you have defined above?
Interviewee: We believe in Quality; we have 52-100 ranges of beverages which is the unique selling point. We don’t produce popular cola, Fanta drinks. Our pricing depends upon the cost of the product and the profit margins. We make profits because we accept challenges for the future by being the industry leader in the market.
Interviewer: How you bare your Glass cost especially for your malts and for Murree sparkletts?
Interviewee: We don’t recycle our glass bottles because we have our own glass manufacturing industry at Hattar (KPK). Ultimately, we don’t have cost issues for these glass bottles. Our newly launched Murree Sparklets is premium quality drinking water which is an ISO 9001 & HACCP certified company. These newly launched drinking water bottles are only available on the A+ category stores of the country.
Interviewer: Sir, let me know some of your alcoholic products. Where you supply or export this product line?
Interviewee: Well, Murree Brewery Alcohol breweries are popular all over the world. These products are supplied in Pakistan available for the non-Muslims as well as to the stores who have licenses for that. Other than that, Manhattan. Morocco, the UK, and Mexico are the countries where our products are readily available and popular in these countries. While operating these Alcoholic beverages here at Rawalpindi only a few employees have work permits. All employees are not accessible for that alcoholic manufacturing unit.
Interviewer: Coming to the last question Sir! What are the internal issues that are faced by the company?
Interviewee: The biggest challenge is that we have local manufacturer issues whereas, internal issues are of minor nature and I don’t want to reveal because there are some areas of confidentiality and this company has a great history. For this industry, we don’t want negative Word of Mouth.
Interviewer: Sir, I need the pricing list of your products?
Interviewee: Yes, sure but we don’t provide it for our alcoholic products.
That’s All, Thank You