The global recession clearly hasn’t had an impact on the average Indian’s taste buds. Snacking is on the rise. Increasing disposable incomes, a need for convenience from fast-paced lifestyles and a cultural tradition of snacking between meals have fuelled explosive growth in this sector. From a modest Rs 8,000 crores in 2004, the market today stands at Rs 47,000 crores—more than six times the amount a decade ago, according to Dolly Jha, executive director, Nielsen and author of the category report “Biting into the Indian snacking market’.
“This unexpected growth is not isolated to urban areas. In terms of opportunity, tier I towns, the rest of urban, and rural areas are the ones that offer the most potential for retailers and manufacturers, fostering our belief that marketing focused on these areas will drive growth,” Jha notes in the report.
Jha’s report examines the key elements of successful marketing when it comes to snacks in India. “Why do some products succeed while others fail? We have studied and analysed more than a hundred snacking initiatives and found that the key lies in building a successful proposition,” she writes.
“Our studies show that creating a path-breaking concept in snacking is no easy task. As a matter of fact, creating a winning proposition in the snacking space is observed to be more difficult than other foods.”
Jha lists six key determinants in building an effective marketing gameplan for snacks in India, which include motional connectivity, taste, innovation, pricing, brand goodwill, and distribution.
The full Nielsen report appears in the December 2014 issue of Progressive Grocer India.
