Kolkatans' sweet-tooth has been getting a tasty new bite — ‘chocolate' sandesh. Instead of trying to beat the mithaiwala in Kolkata, with its huge sweet-eating population, Cadbury India (now part of Kraft Foods) has decided to join them by making sweets with CDM (Cadbury Dairy Milk) in them under its latest initiative — ‘Cadbury Mishti Shera Shrishti' (Ultimate mithai created with Cadbury).
Roping in some of the biggest and oldest sweet retailers in the city — KC Das, Balram and Ganguram Sweets — Cadbury has encouraged these established sweet-makers to innovate by including Cadbury's chocolate in their offerings to drive consumption of its largest selling brand.
With a single mithai made with CDM costing anywhere up to Rs 60, sweet shops have taken the initiative to create such attractive variants as Choco Twister, Choco Kumbha, Choco Riceball, Choco Fusion, Kolaberi Di and Choco Mudpie.
With extensive branding within each of the nine mithai shops chosen, consumers are also encouraged to vote for the best
According to Mr Chandramouli Venkatasan, Director, Snacking, Cadbury India: “In the last eight years, Cadbury Dairy Milk has consistently positioned itself as a ‘sweet' through the Kuch meetha ho jaaye campaign.
Our activity in Kolkata is another step in that direction. Kolkata is a big mithai market and a fusion of chocolate and mithai presents a great opportunity for Cadbury Kraft Foods to build an even stronger relevance here.”
But blending chocolate with a traditional mithai may not work with consumers in the long run.
As Mr N. Chandramouli, CEO, Trust Research Advisory says: “Cadbury is probably test-marketing the concept in Kolkata but it will be a long-drawn process as it will be impinging on the culture of the city which prefers traditional sweets to chocolates.”
At the same time, being a market leader, Cadbury has taken the initiative to increase chocolate consumption in the country.
With tag lines such as Kuch Mitha Ho Jaye and, more recently, Mithai mein Mitha , it is all about penetrating the category further and that now includes traditional mithai — with CDM, of course.