NEW DELHI : Haldiram’s Foods International Pvt Ltd (Nagpur) is entering the premium chocolate market, competing with the likes of ITC and Mondelez, as it builds a wider portfolio of packaged foods beyond sweets and savouries.
The company has rolled out chocolates under the Cocobay brand and priced at about ₹150 for single serve bars and at ₹2,000 for large packs in various markets, including Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Bangalore and Surat.
“We are good at selling sweets, but when it comes to chocolates, we saw a big gap in the Indian market. Not many players are selling premium chocolates at scale," said Adeesh Jain, general manager at Haldiram’s Foods, who oversees the company’s frozen foods and ready-to-eat portfolios.
Haldiram’s Foods is also expanding its bakery and frozen foods businesses as it seeks to build on its strong presence in the sweets and snacks market to capture a larger share of the growing demand for packaged foods. The company is also investing in opening more of its eponymous restaurants.
Haldiram’s Foods will retail its Cocobay brand via premium and general stores as well as on direct-to-consumer and quick-commerce platforms.
India’s chocolate market was estimated at ₹17,200 crore in 2019, and projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10% between 2019 and 2023, according to researcher Mintel.
Jain said youngsters are moving away from traditional sweets—the mainstay for several large homegrown food brands, including Haldiram’s—to buying more western-style premium products.
While Haldiram’s Foods branded namkeen, bhujia (both savouries) and cookies are widely available in India and overseas, Jain said the company is adding more bakery and snacking products at stores.
Over the previous three years, the company has also expanded its frozen foods portfolio under Haldiram’s Minute Khana—a largely export focussed brand. Up until 2020, 95% of the company’s frozen foods such as samosas and paranthas were exported; today, 25% of these products are retailed locally.
“We aren't moving away from the core business at all. But we have started experimenting a lot more. We started getting machines for bakery products. Bakery is a very big segment but in India, it is largely focussed on breads. There’s no organized player doing premium bakery at scale," he said.
The company, Jain added, was entering into a whole “basket" of packaged food products. “So when people enter our stores, their entire food needs are covered."
Packaged foods aside, Haldiram’s Foods is also looking to double the presence of its namesake restaurant chain in South India and West India.
Other packaged food companies too are stepping up investments in India given increasing consumer preference for branded food.
Last year, chocolate maker Mondelez India said it would invest ₹4,000 crore over four years to expand its manufacturing capacity in the country and build more warehouses and cold-chain facilities. In 2022, Nestle SA, said it would spend ₹5,000 crore to build factories and research centres in India.
Haldiram’s is a family-owned business that dates back to the 1930s. It operates through various entities, held by branches of the Agarwal family. Prominent ones include Haldiram’s Foods International, based in Nagpur, Haldiram’s Snacks Ltd, based in Delhi-NCR, and Haldiram’s Ethnic Foods Pvt. Ltd.
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Published: 07 Jan 2024, 01:41 PM IST
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