Since its introduction in 1999, Kurkure, a salty namkeen collet snack from PepsiCo India, has felt like an alien thought.
Today is that day.
Pepsico India has launched Kurkure Chatpata Cheese, a new and, more importantly, permanent addition to the portfolio, with the flavours of cheddar cheese and jalapenos, as well as the chatpata masala taste Indians are accustomed to; it takes inspiration from the Cheddar Jalapeno flavour of its videos siblings Lay’s and Cheetos.
It will be available at three price points: Rs 5, Rs 10, and Rs 20.
Kurkure debuted a new western flavour this year, and rival Bikanervala Foods’ Bikano debuted Mexican Crunch (Peri Peri) and Fun Sticks (Cream n Onion, Tangy Tomato) in 2021; globalisation of flavour appears to have influenced these snack brands in recent years.
What’s the deal with these new flavour launches? Fusion is the solution. “We knew fusion would resonate with the target audience we were going after, and that is how the proposition came to be,” says Neha Prasad, associate director and brand lead at Kurkure.
A giant like Kurkure and its mothership PepsiCo India do not introduce new flavours on a whim but after lengthy boardroom discussions. It turns out that a lot of research papers and social listening convinced the beverage and snack giant to introduce a new permanent flavour.
“When we realised that this dairy bucket (cheese) isn’t in this category and it’s all about masala, whether it’s Kurkure or our competition… “It was critical to disrupting this category,” Prasad says.
And it has, by a wide margin. “In 15 days, we’ve already sold twice our monthly target,” says the brand’s CEO.
The Kurkure Chatpata Cheese may have been inspired by international variants of Lay’s and Cheetos, but it is far from a direct copy. The R&D team at Pepsico India worked on the new product to localise and personalise it, where “you get a hint of jalapenos, but there’s a whole lot of masala which had been added to customise it to the Indian palate.”
Several Kurkure flavours Would an Indian palate that includes Masala Munch, Green Chutney, and Chilli Chataka accept Chatapata Cheese? It’s worth noting that Kurkure also produces and sells Yummy Cheese Puffcorn.
She adds that the brand does not want only consumers from this category but also consumers who are interested in dairy but have not seen it happen with collection snacks.
Marketing is essential for getting a new product off the shelves, but in an era of inflation and reworking household budgets, Kurkure’s team must have shared the same concerns in its boardrooms.
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