Chocolate sales riding high on booming economy
While big players like Cadbury and Nestle are making merry, small players with brands having only local appeal are going national. Basics of customer service
By Paramita Chatterjee, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Sale of chocolates in India is on a swell, thanks to the economic boom and a rise in consumer spending. Happy Indians are going mall hopping, shopping and are buying chocolates like never before-chocolate sales grew 15% to Rs 1,200 crore (36,000 tonnes) in 2007. So, while the big players like Cadbury and Nestle are making merry, smaller chocolate makers with brands having only local or neighbourhood appeal are going national . Companies like Sweet-World , Candico and Chocolatiers have taken the ‘malls and multiplexes’ route to up the ante.
Says SweetWorld’s Vrinda Rajgarhia , “Our business model is distinctly linked to footfalls at malls. But more than that we sell happiness and that is why we have chosen multiplexes and malls as our main point of sale. She adds: “Chocolate can be associated with improving mood.” Sweetworld has already set up 40 outlets across the country.
Says Prof. VN Asopa of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad : “A nation driven by an economy growing at around 10% is expected to consume more chocolates as the product sells more in happy times. A higher consumer spend driven by a new found mall culture will boost chocolate sales overall.” Experts say chocolates make us feel good is that it stimulates the secretion of endorphins, producing a pleasurable sensation.
Companies like SweetWorld and the not-so-known brands are recreating a niche by focussing on high-end chocolates. “And they are benefiting from heavy advertising by companies like Cadbury and Nestle as chocolates are being promoted as aspirational products. Most campaigns would show the principal character eating an icecream when he is delighted or chocolates being used to end remorse ,” says Shekhar Jha senior creative director at ad agency Ogilvy & Mather, which handles the Cadbury account.
Delhi-based Chocolatiers is a case in point. It started out with small shop in south Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park and has now ventured into malls and multiplexes in NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore. Owner Sanjiv Obhrai says, “Designer chocolates have become status symbols. They are linked to one’s aspiration and lifestyle and malls are perfect points of sale as people usually are happy and gay at these destinations.”
Delhi-based confectionery and candy manufacturer Candico India is targeting 400 locations across malls and multiplexes in the country by 2010. “We identified a mammoth opportunity in modern retail in 2005 and that is when we decided to have a mix of kiosks and standalone stores in multiplexes,” says managing director Madhav Gupta.
CARE FOR 1?
Chocolate sales grew 15% to Rs 1,200 crore (36,000 tonnes) in 2007
Delhi-based Candico India is targeting 400 locations across malls and multiplexes in the country by 2010
Experts say chocolates make us feel good stimulating secretion of endorphins
Says SweetWorld’s Vrinda Rajgarhia , “Our business model is distinctly linked to footfalls at malls. But more than that we sell happiness and that is why we have chosen multiplexes and malls as our main point of sale. She adds: “Chocolate can be associated with improving mood.” Sweetworld has already set up 40 outlets across the country.
Says Prof. VN Asopa of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad : “A nation driven by an economy growing at around 10% is expected to consume more chocolates as the product sells more in happy times. A higher consumer spend driven by a new found mall culture will boost chocolate sales overall.” Experts say chocolates make us feel good is that it stimulates the secretion of endorphins, producing a pleasurable sensation.
Companies like SweetWorld and the not-so-known brands are recreating a niche by focussing on high-end chocolates. “And they are benefiting from heavy advertising by companies like Cadbury and Nestle as chocolates are being promoted as aspirational products. Most campaigns would show the principal character eating an icecream when he is delighted or chocolates being used to end remorse ,” says Shekhar Jha senior creative director at ad agency Ogilvy & Mather, which handles the Cadbury account.
Delhi-based Chocolatiers is a case in point. It started out with small shop in south Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park and has now ventured into malls and multiplexes in NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore. Owner Sanjiv Obhrai says, “Designer chocolates have become status symbols. They are linked to one’s aspiration and lifestyle and malls are perfect points of sale as people usually are happy and gay at these destinations.”
Delhi-based confectionery and candy manufacturer Candico India is targeting 400 locations across malls and multiplexes in the country by 2010. “We identified a mammoth opportunity in modern retail in 2005 and that is when we decided to have a mix of kiosks and standalone stores in multiplexes,” says managing director Madhav Gupta.
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CARE FOR 1?
Chocolate sales grew 15% to Rs 1,200 crore (36,000 tonnes) in 2007
Delhi-based Candico India is targeting 400 locations across malls and multiplexes in the country by 2010
Experts say chocolates make us feel good stimulating secretion of endorphins
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