Amul revamps chocolate strategy

Dairy major Amul is reworking its strategy in the chocolate category to push its chocolate product sales.

Although, the company has maintained a chocolate portfolio for more than 20 years, the dairy products major never posed a threat to market leaders such as Cadbury and Nestle.

Now, with a new product portfolio, the home-grown foods giant is planning to create a space for itself.

"In the chocolate business, our strategy is to identify the market gaps and try and fill them. We have done this in the past with our sugar free and Choco Zoo, both of which have been appreciated by the consumers. We are concentrating on the niche segment as far as the chocolate range is concerned," says R S Sodhi, general manager, marketing, Amul.

Company executives say that by occupying niche spots such as the shape-based chocolates segment, Amul can dominate the segment. In the overall category, Amul has a market share of roughly 10 per cent compared with 70 per cent share of the market leader, Cadbury.

The growth in Amul's chocolate sales has remained stagnant over the years. Industry experts say that since the company is present in more than one category, some of its categories have performed better than others. In Amul's case, the bulk of its sales comes from its dairy products such as milk packets.

The company is trying to push its chocolate sales through its extensive dairy distribution network, say sources. It is giving discount offers for its recently launched sugar-free chocolates, which the distributors said was well received by the market.

The company has also placed its chocolate products at lesser price points compared with its competitors. Other chocolate brands by Amul include Bindaaz, Fundoo, Almond bar, Milk chocolate and Fruit-n-nut.

Yet chocolate has never been a major thrust area for the company. It still remains one of its non-core categories. Its chocolate drinks have received better response than its chocolates, say company executives.

The chocolate category in India is also seeing increased activity with MNCs such as Hershey's planning to introduce products from its global stable in India in the coming year.

Amul is looking at building a bigger portfolio in this category by introducing new types of chocolates.