Cadbury India (recently rechristened as Mondelez) says it is in no hurry to launch more brands from the Kraft Foods’ portfolio. The chocolate major intends on consolidating its portfolio with the current set of brands in the chocolate, malted drink (Bournvita) and gum and candy space.

“None of these categories are saturated and can be grown further. Today, we are focusing on the current portfolio and do not believe in doing new things at the cost of the current ones. There is a slow and calibrated strategy and there are no new Kraft brands planned as of now,” says Chandramouli Venkatesan, Director, Snacking, India. While it launched brands in quick succession last year, such as Oreo, Tang and more recently Toblerone from the Kraft stable, growing and sustaining these brands is going to be the imperative going forward.

As Chandramouli says, “We have to keep our focus and while it may be easy to do new things, it is difficult to sustain what you have done last year.”

Launched in March last year, Oreo has managed to garner a 2.7 per cent share in the cookies and crème segment and currently reaches out to seven lakh outlets. A new chocolate cream variant, at 20 per cent premium, has also been added recently to increase its franchise in the growing Rs 5,000-crore cookies and crème segment.

But Oreo has a long way to go as Britannia’s Good Day brand dominates the segment with a 17 per cent share.

Gifting brand Toblerone is also expected to complement Cadbury Celebrations brand albeit at a premium. Cadbury is making sure it avoids overlaps in the premium chocolate segment, keeping its brands such as Bournville, Silk and now Toblerone at different price points to address different segments. Cadbury tried to build the dark chocolate category by reviving its Bournville brand in 2009, and a year later it launched the premium milk chocolate brand – Silk.

The premium chocolate segment is estimated at Rs 500 crore and is growing between 25 and 30 per cent.

For its premium chocolate portfolio, Cadbury India is focusing on social media to connect with its target customer base. It has a dedicated Facebook page for each brand. “We are spending between 3 and 5 per cent of total ad spends on the digital medium, as it builds consumer engagement. More than sales, it creates loyalty with our customers,” added Chandramouli. Last year, Cadbury grew 30 per cent over the previous year.

> purvita@thehindu.co.in

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