Britannia to re launch its cookies later this month

Britannia, one of the largest biscuit makers is planning to re-launch their cream and cookies formats of Tiger brand as it looks to increase its distribution footprint in the country and market-share in the value segment.

The value segment or biscuits with lower price per kilogram has traditionally not been Britannia's forte as the company focused on the premium category, which yielded better margins and profitability.

However, the value segment constitutes 45 per cent of the total biscuit market and the organized market is dominated by Parle.

The relaunch, which is set to happen later this month, will see a change in the design, package and taste of Tiger cookies and cream. The move comes within months of the relaunch of Tiger glucose, Britannia's most important product for the mass market segment. The entire Tiger portfolio contributes about 13 per cent of Britannia's annual revenue.

"We have not made much headway in the value category compared to Parle and the relaunch is a way to improve our visibility in the segment," said Ali Harris Shere, Britannia marketing director.

He further says that the entire Tiger brand had "not kept pace with the company's overall growth" as a lack of innovation led to an undifferentiated offering.

The value segment contributes only about 15 per cent to Britannia's overall revenue while it contributes about four-fifths to Parle's total sales thank primarily to the popular Parle G biscuit.

Britannia's market share is one-fifth of the market leader in the category, thus offering scope to strengthen position, the company said in an analyst presentation in August.

Britannia is looking to increase its market share in the segment to about 18-20 per cent in the next three years from about 8-10 per cent now, said Hemant Rupani, vice president, sales.