Packaged namkeens could become the next big food fight with ITC trying to enter the segment and other companies like Parle and Cavin Kare revamping their strategies. This could pose a stiff competition to regional brands like Balaji and Bikaji and Haldirams. The current news is that ITC is planning to make a mark in the segment within a couple of months.
ITC may enter the segment with a new brand and not with Bingo. The company may enter Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra before planning its national portfolio. Reports say that the company had been picking up some samples from its rivals since a few months. The snacks brand of ITC, Bingo is one of the fastest growing snack brand with a growth rate of about 30% . PepsiCo’s Lays remains the no. 1 brand in the segment. Lays is primarily targeted towards kids and teenagers and has a western flavor to it. On the other hand Lehar is growing at a faster rate compared to Lays and this has encouraged the company to expand its portfolio to 50 SKUs.
Parle, India’s biggest biscuit maker is trying to improve its snack business in a big way and restructuring its strategies to make namkeens its second largest business after biscuits. The company says it is planning to garner 25% of the market in namkeens and has also planned its distribution strategies.
When it comes to pricing, industry officials say that companies are not stringent about their pricing formulas and they may fix a price anything that range between Rs. 5 and Rs.20. The recent projections say namkeens and regional snacks will become the next major market in India. Namkeens or biscuits, sure that Indians are going to have a spicy snack time in future.
