Britannia plans to give a salty twist to Time Pass brand

Britannia Industries, India’s biggest biscuit maker, plans to enter the Rs 24,000 crore per annum salty snacks market, which is dominated by Haldiram’s and Pepsico. It plans to launch salty snacks under its existing brand Time Pass by next month as part of a strategy to expand to non-biscuit segments.

“It will be a differentiated product range and we will leverage on the fact that we have about 80 factories making our products. In snacking segment, transportation is the biggest cost but with our manufacturing footprint, our costs will remain tight and efficient,” said Varun Berry, managing director at Britannia Industries, without divulging product range or details on variants.

In India, biscuits, snacks and dairy are the three largest categories in packaged consumer products and account for a third of the nearly Rs 3.4 lakh crore market. In its effort to become a “total foods company” the maker of Good Day and Nutri Choice biscuits has identified opportunities in all three segments. In the past few months, it launched swiss rolls, layer cakes, creme wafers, croissants and milk shakes in tetra packs.

But unlike in biscuits, where large players such as Britannia, Parle and ITC control more than 80% of the market, snacking segment has seen regional and state-specific players with lower priced products eating away shares of large companies. Regional snack brands offer 30% higher volume for similar price points, especially highest selling packs of Rs 5 and Rs 10.

The Rs 10,000 crore Kolkata-headquartered company had earlier entered snacks category but exited after a few months. However, Berry said, “This time, the outlook in the segment, our capabilities and the product characteristics are completely different.”

In the past few years, the market has seen a shift towards traditional snacks as both multinationals and home-grown companies have launched namkeen products. A year ago, Haldiram’s displaced Pepsi as the country’s largest snacking firm. Britannia Industries will compete mainly against PepsiCo and ITC that operate largely in western snacking segment such as potato chips, riblon and gathia, with brands such as Kurkure and Bingo’s Tedhe Medhe, and extruded, which includes cheese balls.

“If we take three years’ average, then Britannia’s volume growth is the best in industry. The company’s journey towards becoming a total foods company is gaining flavour with entry into new categories and geographies and rising share of premium products that will keep the company in good stead,” said a recent Edelweiss report.

Berry, a former head of Pepsi Foods, took charge as Britannia Industries CEO nearly five years ago, a time when the consumer market was slowing and the company had a portfolio of mostly premium products even as many consumers were cutting back spends on discretionary items. Since then, he has more than doubled the company’s distribution reach, especially in the Hindi heartland where it was traditionally weaker, with the result that the company now directly reaches more than two million outlets.

Source:-https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/food-entertainment/personal-care-pet-supplies-liquor/britannia-plans-to-give-a-salty-twist-to-time-pass-brand/68145515