Confectionery major Perfetti Van Melle India is planning to set up a fourth plant in the country. It currently has three facilities in Chennai, Manesar (Haryana) and Rudrapur (Uttarakhand).

With all three running to full capacity now, the candy maker is looking to set another facility.

Mr Sameer Suneja, Managing Director of the company, however, said, “It will be a little premature to say where, when and how much we will invest in the facility. At present, we are evaluating various options.”

Perfetti, which offers eight brands of candies (Alpenliebe, Mentos, Chlormint and Fruitella) and gums (Big Babool, Center Fresh, Happydent and Centre Shock), closed the calendar year 2011 with a turnover of Rs 1,500 crore. Gums and candies contributed equally.

“We have grown more than 20 per cent over the previous year,” said Mr Suneja.

On how the company manages input cost pressure, he said that Perfetti is constantly launching newer variants at higher price points, and keeps introducing higher value packs such as bottles and flip-tops.

“This helps us save substantially in packaging costs.” The company is also expanding its retail presence by augmenting its reach in rural markets.

Snacks foray

The candy maker has recently diversified into the Rs 8,000-crore snack category, eyeing a bite of the non chips segment with its ‘Stop Not' Golz.

It is an indigenously developed wheat-based product. “We are currently test marketing it in select pockets,” said Mr Suneja.

In its category, Stop Not will compete with brands from the stables of ITC, Parle and Haldiram's.

Asked whether the company was looking at acquisitions in this category, Mr Suneja said that Perfetti believes in building brands on its own. “Inorganic growth is simply not in our DNA,” he said.

rravikumar@thehindu.co.in

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