Smerc Foods and Beverages, the parent company of Kaatil, is an innovative, product-focused D2C startup, nurturing and creating consumer brands that become part of the customer’s daily life. Since its commencement, the F&B player has been on a mission to disrupt the global F&B markets through their familiar, yet unique products.
Medianews4u.com caught up with Sagar Merchant, Founder of Kaatil
Q. What was the gap seen in the market that led to the launch of KAATIL? So far what progress has been made?
One of the main gaps when it comes to a lot of hot products or condiments is that it gets limited to just that, being hot or being spicy. Kaatil was created to allow everyone to experience Indian chillies in a global format while staying accessible and enjoyable.
Our condiments are designed to add more to your food than just heat, they add flavour. Over that we believe that eating our products shouldn’t be a painful experience, and so we have products at different levels of heat with different flavour profiles to allow everyone to find their perfect hot condiment.
Q. In building a distinctive brand in a crowded and competitive category what was the big challenge?
For us as a brand, we want to cater people’s varying spice tolerances and flavour preferences, while making them acquainted to Indian Chillies. There is a very strong mindset associated with products like hot sauces and chilli oils, which is – “I can’t handle spice very well so I won’t try this.” Our products are crafted in a manner where everyone can comfortably enjoy them according to their tolerance.
Breaking this existing barrier for potential customers while also passing along the message that there is more to our products in terms of flavour than just the different Indian chillies we use, is essential to us in creating our distinct brand and differentiating ourselves from our competitors in this category.
Q. Kaatil is focussing on expanding its product lines and presence through multiple national and international distribution channels including e-commerce marketplaces, quick commerce, and offline retail outlets. What does all this entail?
This strategy focuses on building a strong omnichannel presence where consumers can discover and purchase KAATIL products seamlessly across platforms. From e-commerce marketplaces and quick commerce platforms to modern trade and offline retail outlets, the idea is to meet consumers wherever they prefer to shop.
Alongside expanding distribution, we are also prioritising brand awareness and product trials among our target audience. Through digital marketing, retail visibility, and strategic partnerships, we aim to introduce more consumers to the brand while ensuring easy availability.
Q. Are convenience in quicker meal preparation, trust, authenticity, and consistent quality driving sales for the hot condiments brand?
Factors like trust, authenticity, and consistent quality are a given when it comes to attracting and even more so retaining customers for any brand. The convenience aspect is one that would drive sales for a hot condiments brand such as Kaatil, seeing as condiments are a really easy way to spruce up meals or snacks.
Additionally with quicker meal preparation, condiments also allow people to explore different local and global flavours without having to invest too much time. This also fits perfectly into the rising trend of people looking for artisanal and complex flavours in a more accessible format.
Being a quick and easy way to spruce up boring food has been part of our brand’s messaging from a very early stage. Our tagline is “killer desi heat” and the goal is to kill boring food with Kaatil.
Q. What role does the product’s packaging, visual appeal play as a touchpoint in influencing customers’ purchase decisions, fostering brand loyalty, and actively addressing pressing environmental concerns?
The packaging is an extremely essential part of any product. In the initial stage good packaging that has visual appeal should attract a potential customer and make them want to know more about the product and the brand, which is why we try our best to keep our packaging bolder and representative of who we are as a brand.
But it doesn’t end once the customer purchases your product, if your packaging is designed well in terms of usability, it creates a more value for your product in the customers life, so innovating with packaging is also something we put a lot of thought into.
Q. Does the company focus a lot on designs incorporating vibrant colours and traditional motifs that resonate with India’s rich cultural tapestry?
Our original packaging and logo design was inspired from elements in Bollywood and there are quite a few vibrant graphics and elements that have been consistent in our packaging so far. We follow a gradient system in our colour scheme where our products label and get darker as the heat level of the product rises.
In terms of graphical elements, we also have smaller details associated with our brand’s numerical system designed to signal the product’s heat level. As the numbers get higher, the products get hotter and each number has an associated weapon being carried by our mascot that also gets more dangerous as the heat level rises.
Q. Gen Z and Gen Alpha prioritise authenticity and quality over heavy discounts and visibility. Is this making marketers in the category rewrite the playbook?
There is definitely a need for change in the playbook when it comes to marketing. However, that is a relatively constant aspect of the field since there is continuous change in methods that can be used for marketing with how people evolve.
As of now social media is an essential component of building a brand and maintaining an authentic tone in messaging across these platforms is essential to build trust and loyalty amongst customers. When it comes to the newer generations we try to use more influencer marketing to provide a more organic portrayal of the product that moves away from the extremely scripted studio style content.
Q. How has the company adapted their marketing tactics to appeal to the new-age customers?
Over using Influencer marketing and organic content, we do our best to create engaging short form content to break through people’s crowded feeds and capture their attention. Since there is a really high volume of content without equivalent attentional resources breaking through this barrier becomes critical to successfully convey our message to the desired audience.
Q. What marketing campaigns and innovation can we expect in the coming months?
We are always experimenting with content and tend to tailor content to what is happening on social media or within our brand. We keep up with seasonal content and shift focus from that if we have something big to convey like a new launch. We will shift to content focussed on buzz creation when we are launching newer products.
Q. Could you talk about the company’s upcoming product launches, new product categories, and how it will bolster your product line? Is the consumer’s taste profile growing from Mexican seasoning to Italian herb mixes?
We do have a few exciting products that are currently in the pipeline stage that will expand the current product line.
In terms of consumer taste profiles, people are experimenting and exploring with a lot of new global flavours in their food. With Mexican, Korean, and Japanese food being a few that are becoming quite popular in terms of dine-out and take-out culture and people looking for ways to explore these even while preparing food at home.
Q. How has AI been integrated into KAATIL from product innovation to marketing efficiency?
While AI does play a role in helping Kaatil make faster, data-backed decisions across both product development and marketing, it depends on how we utilise it.
For instance, on the product side, it helps us analyse emerging food trends and consumer preferences, enabling us to innovate and develop products that resonate with our audience. From a marketing perspective, AI optimises campaign planning, analyses engagement patterns, and creates more targeted communication across digital platforms, allowing us to scale efficiently while continuously refining our strategies.
Q. To what extent do community influences impact flavour launches or limited edition?
We do give a lot of importance to the community we have built and are always looking for feedback regarding existing products or suggestions for new products. We take feedback very seriously and we do implement changes in our products if we feel that they can be improved in any way. Providing customers with the best version of our product is always a priority.
Q. Will KAATIL work with food influencers to get the message across?
We already work with food influencers quite a bit. It helps us get our message across more organically while also reaching different audiences that might view and follow different types of creators.
Q. How will KAATIL approach B2B marketing to strengthen relationships with distributors?
KAATIL is placing strong emphasis on expanding and nurturing its B2B network by building long-term partnerships with distributors across key markets. As we scale, our focus is on creating a consistent and visible presence across retail environments so that both distributors and consumers increasingly recognise and trust the brand.
We are actively onboarding new distribution partners while strengthening existing relationships through better trade support, streamlined supply chains, and collaborative growth opportunities. Our goal is to ensure that Kaatil is easily accessible across multiple retail touchpoints.
Q. Apart from India which are the other markets being looked at? Is the focus on NRIs?
We are currently present in the US through amazon.
