The best things in life are duty-free

Next time a harried corporate traveller misses out on that mandatory visit to the Taj "" and instead of marble miniatures decides to pick up gift-wrapped Toblers from the airport duty-free for the wife, he need not necessarily be in trouble.

One, the packaging would be as swish as, say, at London's Heathrow; none of ITDC's perceived tackiness. Two, if he spends his entire $575 allowance on Kraft Foods products, makers of Toblers among other things, he could also take home a Christian Dior watch, free.

The last is part of a joint promotion between Flemingo, the duty free chain and Kraft Foods World Travel Retail, makers of brands such as Toblerone and Tang, leaders in the global duty-free market.

The two have just announced a tie-up under which all of Flemingo's duty-free shops in the country (about 25) would retail Kraft products, particularly the confectionery "" but not the cheese "since we don't want the image to be that of a super market but that of luxury products in an exclusive environment", says Patrick Dorais, global sales head, Kraft Foods.

Dorais, along with Kraft's area manager for the Indian sub-continent, Mddle East and Africa, Rajiv Malhotra, was in the capital to announce the tie-up along with Flemingo's directors.

While Kraft's products have been widely retailed in the country for more than a decade now, not just at upmarket grocers but also at other duty-frees, the tie-up signals a new seriousness on part of Kraft vis-a-vis the Indian travel retail market.

What the company is obviously eyeing is a slice of the booming travel mart in the country. India is at present ranked 22 in terms of the size of its travel and tourism economy with a 9 per cent year on year growth projected for the next 10 years.

The global travel market is pegged at $90 billion, with India projected at number three in the long term with a $39 billion market. Besides inbound travellers, "There are so many people who are also travelling abroad for the first time from India," Dorais exclaims.

Naturally, that's a segment everyone is looking to tap. For the moment, Kraft's "wanting to be a part of this" translates into products-in-spruced-up packaging, apart from promos and suitable staff training to ensure a "different experience" at the Flemingo duty- frees.

The products themselves remain unchanged. Toblers, for instance, follow a standard recipe dating from 1908 and continue to be imported from Switzerland with no manufacturing anywhere else.

Also available would be Milka chocolates, Maxwell House instant coffee and Tang powdered soft drink mix, though the emphasis is on the chocolates.

"Since confectionery is a relatively perishable product and India a relatively hot country, it naturally presents challenges", Dorias adds. But given that his company is a leader in travel retail (he won't give any figures but informs us that of the $25 billion duty free biz, confectionery notches up 8 per cent), he should be up to it.