ABSTRACT

Kellogg's set up a branch in India and started producing corn flakes to give consumers the real thing. What they didn’t realize was that Indians, rather like the Chinese, think that to start the day with something cold, like cold milk on your cereal, is a shock to the system. You start it with warm milk. But you pour warm milk on Mr. Kellogg's corn flakes and they turn to wet paper. You pour warm milk on the sturdier Indian corn flake, it holds up. Does it taste better than Mr. Kellogg's? No. If Mr. Kellogg's is eaten as Mr. Kellogg intended, it is somewhat better than Indian corn flakes. The point is that … you have to know something about … a place and its cultural rituals.