Feb 10, 2020
Traditional namkeen outdone western snacks a few years ago and become the largest sub-segment after multinationals and domestic companies pushed their products in the vicinity with attractive packaging and pricing.
Henceforth India’s own giant namkeen and mithai company, Haldiram crossed the $1 billion sales mark in India after business doubled over the past four years, with consumers increasingly preferring packaged namkeen over western snacks.
The brand, split into three geographic entities with almost a dozen companies, posted a combined revenue of Rs. 7,130 crore during FY19, exceeding the sales of Mondelēz India and at par with Hindustan Unilever’s food and refreshment division. Haldiram’s combined units grew 14 per cent from Rs. 6,241 crore in FY18. While it also runs restaurant chains, packaged snacks contributed over 80 per cent of sales for the market leader.
With sales of Rs. 6,571 crore last calendar year, Haldiram controls a fifth of India’s snack market, which expanded 12 per cent to Rs. 32,000 crore. While the growth rate has tapered from 14 per cent a year earlier, traditional snacks such as dal, chivra, bhujia and nuts are still growing faster than western products including potato chips.
The market for traditional snacks has always been there but it was largely unorganised. Haldiram had a first-mover advantage, which helped as consumers moved towards branded namkeen. While the brand is one, they have three different companies with distinct management and larger scale of operations compared to rivals