Leading food snacks company pladis India is widening its portfolio by entering in the cream sandwich biscuit segment under its iconic brand McVitie’s.

The company hopes this will help double its revenues in the next two to three years.

Abhishek Sharma, President, pladis India (also known as United Biscuits Pvt Ltd) told BusinessLine , “We have now established McVitie’s as a strong brand in India. We believe the time is right for us in the mass category to be relevant to a larger consumer base in the country. Foraying into the cream biscuit segment is a crucial step for us, as we hope to double our revenues in the next 2-3 years.”

The total biscuits market in India is estimated at ₹25,000 crore and the cream biscuits segment contribution is pegged at about 20 per cent.

At the same time, the digestive biscuit segment contributes just about one per cent to the overall biscuit segment.

Brand McVitie’s retail sales are pegged at over ₹200 crore in India currently.

Sharma said this foray will help the company, which has largely been focusing on the niche health-driven digestive biscuit segment, to now have a presence in the taste-led mass cream biscuits category.

McVitie’s Creams packs will sport the Jungle Book characters under a brand licensing agreement. The launch will be backed with an integrated marketing campaign and contest-led promotions that will run till November.

“In what will be a first initiative of its kind, McVitie’s Creams packs will come with a QR code, kids will be able to scan these and watch webisodes of The Jungle Book on the smartphones. So we will be leveraging on this brand licensing agreement to engage with kids at different levels,” Sharma added.

At the same time, the company will also be banking on its brand ambassador Bollywood actor Kajol to connect with mothers.

McVitie’s Creams will be available at ₹20 and ₹10 packs in various flavours such as chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and orange.

The company will also be focusing on ramping up its distribution which for now had been largely focused in the larger format stores in key cities.

“Biscuits is a highly penetrated category in the country and we will expand our distribution as we enter this mass cream biscuits segment,” he said, adding that the company will initially focus on strengthening distribution in the top 100 cities and towns.

Sharma said that ramping up its distribution will also help the company to increase distribution of its digestive biscuits range as well as introduce brands from its global portfolio in the long term.

Part of the Yildiz Holding, pladis owns brands such as chocolate brand Godiva and McVitie’s and Ulker.

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