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Alpenliebe, a hard-boiled sugar candy, was
one of the first brands to be launched after Perfetti Van Melle
(India) Ltd. (PVMI) launched its operations in India in 1994.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of the world's third largest
confectionery major Perfetti Van Melle S.p.A,1
PVMI also had other big brands such as Center Fresh, Center
Shock, Big Babol, Chlormint, Mentos, Fruitella, Cofitos, Protex
Happydent, Happydent White, Marbles, Chocoliebe, Chatar Patar,
etc., in its brand portfolio.
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As of early 2008, Alpenliebe was the single largest
selling sugar confectionery brand in India and made up a major portion
of PVMI's revenue, estimated to be Rs.7 billion2
in 2007.
Alpenliebe was available in three flavors - 'rich milky caramel', 'cream
strawberry', and 'chocolate'. In addition to this, the company also
started marketing lollipops under the Alpenliebe brand in the early
2000s in three flavors - 'rich milky caramel', 'strawberry cream', and 'cola & vanilla'. In 2005, the company also launched a center-filled
candy under the brand name Abpenliebe Creamfills.
Analysts gave PVMI credit for creating a big brand (Alpenliebe) in the
low value, low margin, and fragmented sugar confectionery market in
India that was quite different from the market in other developed
countries but very competitive nevertheless.3
The sugar confectionery market includes products such as sweets,
jellies, and gums but not chocolate confectionery. While there was a
large unorganized market for sugar confectioneries in India, the
organized market in India was estimated to be US$461 million in 2007,
i.e., around 70 percent of the total candy market in the country.
According to Euromonitor4, the
market in India grew at a rate of 7.2 percent per year between 2002 and
2006.5 The market was dominated by
PVMI, which was the market leader with a market share of more than 30
percent, Cadbury India6, Wrigley's7,
and Lotte Confectionery8.
Other significant players in the market were Hindustan Unilever Ltd9
(HUL), ITC Ltd10 (ITC), Nestlé
India Ltd.11, Candico12,
Godrej Beverages and Food Ltd.13,
and Ravalgaon Sugar Farm Ltd.14
Analysts felt that the market was witnessing a shift with an expansion
in the organized segment.
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1] Perfetti Van Melle S.p.A., headquartered in
Lainate, Italy and Breda, Netherlands, was established in March 2001 through the
merger of two confectionery majors Perfetti S.p.A. (Perfetti) of Italy and Van
Melle NV (Van Melle) of the Netherlands.
2] As of April 2008, US$1 was approximately equal to Rs. 39.75.
3] Ratna Bhushan, "Perfetti India Joins Global Big
League," www.thehindubusinessline.com, October 21, 2003.
4] Euromonitor, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois,
USA, is a leading provider of global business intelligence and market analysis.
5] "Indian Sugar Confectionery Market to Grow 8% a
Year to 2011 - Study (DJ)," www.flex-news-food.com, October 8, 2007.
6] Cadbury India is the Indian arm of the world's
largest confectionery and beverage company company Cadbury Schweppes Plc. The
company has its global headquarters in London, UK, and its revenues in 2007 were
£7.97 billion.
7] Wrigley's India is the Indian arm of the world's
second largest confectionery company William Wrigley Jr. Company. The company
has its global headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and its revenues in 2007
were US$5.39 billion
8] Lotte Confectionery, headquartered in Seoul, South
Korea, is a confectionery company that markets its products in more than 70
countries. It is a subsidiary of the Korean business conglomerate, Lotte Group.
9] Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (earlier known as
Hindustan Lever Ltd.) is the largest FMCG company in India. As of 2007, global
consumer goods giant Unilever Plc. held a 51 percent stake in the company.
10] ITC Ltd. is a diversified business conglomerate
in India with a presence in cigarettes, FMCG, hotels, specialty papers,
packaging, paperboards, agricultural business, etc.
11] Nestlé India Ltd. is the Indian subsidiary of
one of the world's leading packaged food company Nestlé SA headquartered in
Vevey, Switzerland.
12] Candico is one of the leading Indian
confectionery companies and has operations in more than 13 countries.
13] Godrej Beverages and Food Ltd., a part of the
Indian business conglomerate Godrej Group, entered this market in 2006 by
acquiring Indian confectionery company Nutrine Confectionery.
14] Ravalgaon Sugar Farm Ltd., headquartered in
Mumbai, India, has a significant presence in the Indian sugar confectionery
market. |
