As snackers gorge, Britannia sees lip-smacking growth

Britannia Industries, biscuits and dairy major, is aiming at a bountiful presence in the snacks segment with the launch of 50-50 Snackuits.

Shalini Degan, category director, (delight and lifestyle), said Britannia has a strong desire to play up its snacks portfolio, which includes 50-50, Little Hearts and Time Pass.

“Snacking should be a key growth driver for us in three to five years,” she said.

The company has been in the snacks business since 1993 with its 50-50 crackers and Little Hearts. In 2010 it launched its youth-centric product, Time Pass.

Currently, the 50-50 brand brings in annual revenues of around Rs480 crore, with Time Pass and Little Heart contributing `110 crore and Rs70 crore, respectively.

Degan said Snackuits should become “reasonably strong” in two years and do a business of about `40-50 crore.

Snackuits is currently available in the North, West and East, and the company is rolling it out in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala this month.
To achieve targeted revenues in two years, Britannia will make the product available across modern and general trade, transit clusters like bus-stands and railways stations.

Industry experts say the branded snacking market is roughly Rs7,200 crore, growing at 35-40% annually.

Anand Halve, co-founder of Chlorophyll, a Mumbai-based brand and communications consultancy, said a new variant depends a lot on the credibility of the mother brand.

“Once that credibility is established, the new variants should then bring something different to the table in order to succeed,” Halve said, adding the product has to have easy accessibility and reach.
Degan said the presence of different players will only accelerate growth as the market is big and consumer tastes are different.