Kraft Heinz eyes over 10% market share for Complan

Kolkata, Aug 11 (IANS) Food and beverage major Kraft Heinz India, which has the nutritional drink brand Complan, is looking to increase its market share to over 10 per cent in the short-to-medium term period, a top company official said on Friday.

"We have 7-8 per cent market share and short-to-medium term goal is to achieve a double digit market share. We are looking at 10 plus," the company's Chief Marketing Officer Vikramjeet Singh said here after the re-launch of the nutritional drink.

He said the market size for nutritional beverages in India is Rs 5,500 crore.

The company gained market share marginally in the run up to the GST period.

Speaking on the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on its sales, he said: "The GST has impacted the whole industry in terms of sales as wholesalers were trying to de-stock and manage their inventory. It has not impacted the market share. We gained the market share by 20 basis points during the period (run up to the GST)."

As part of its strategy, the company was waiting for the re-launch of the nutritional drink, strengthening the distribution channels and attracting the consumers with the right pricing, he said.

"We did a study to understand the elasticity of different packs in the market that means how does the price movement, upward or downward, impact the volumes. Some of the learning from that we deployed in April-June quarter, which helped to gain better volumes," Singh said.

He explained that the company decreased the prices for smaller packs which have high price elasticity and increased the same for larger packs having less elasticity.

"We have slightly increased prices of larger packs by around 5 per cent and took price corrections on the lower side for smaller packs -- 200 gm and below. We brought down small pack's price to Rs 5 and cut the price of 200 gm packs by Rs 10-20. It will allow the right balance of the portfolio," he said, adding that the brand Complan attracts 18 per cent GST rate which is higher than previous rates in the pre-GST regime.

The company has not increased the prices of newly launched packs.

Singh said the food company has plans for launching new products in the nutritional segment for lactating and pregnant women and also for elderly people.

According to the company's Managing Director Niladri Deb, presently, the nutritional drink brand contributes about 40 per cent of its revenue in India, generating around Rs 700 crore.

"We want to grow Complan by two and a half times by 2021," he said.

Beside the health drink, the company, which is known for Glucon D and Nycil brands, was aspiring to double the topline by 2021, Deb said, adding that currently Glucon D generates 40 per cent of its revenues while 11 per cent is contributed by powder brand Nycil.

"We are looking at launching new products in 2018," Deb added.

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