Business - FMCG giants cook new plans for bakery push

FMCG majors ITC Foods and Britannia Industries Ltd (BIL) are gearing up for a bakery battle in the Indian market place. To take on BIL, ITC is baking a fresh game plan to promote its new launch Sunfeast Golden Bakery. ITC’s strategy includes, extension of its product portfolio, high-voltage ad campaigns and consumer promotions. Meanwhile, soft drinks major Rasna is test marketing its bakery brand ‘Devil Doughnuts’ in Ahmedabad. After seeing the response its new launch, Rasna plans to introduce its bakery brands in Mumbai within a few months. Incidentally, Rasna has set up four fast-food retail chains with an unusual name ‘Devil’s Workshop’ in Ahmedabad. With the entry of Rasna and Amul, the branded bakery sector will soon witness a lot of action.
According to industry sources, ITC Foods is getting ready to roll out new variants of its bakery brands in the next two months. To gain high visibility for its new launches, the company is looking at high-decibel advertising and promotions. The company is also focusing on modern retail formats to promote its new launches, added sources. Armed with aggressive marketing strategy, Sunfeast Golden Bakery is all set to take on Britannia’s premium cookie Pure Magic and Good Day in the highly competitive bakery sector.
To promote its flagship brand ‘Sunfeast Golden Bakery’, ITC Foods is currently beaming television campaign featuring cine star Shah Rukh Khan. On the other hand, ITC’s rival Parle Products has roped in film star Hrithik Roshan to endorse its bakery brand ‘Parle Milano’. “As a result, there’s a star war brewing to promote cookies in India, Increasingly, Indian biscuit majors are relying on cine stars to promote their bakery brands,” said an analyst based in Mumbai.
On the company’s strategy, Pravin Kulkarnii, general manager (marketing), Parle Products said, “Enthused by the response to our bakery brand ‘Milano’, we are planning to extend the product portfolio of our cookies this year. We will be supporting our new launches with aggressive mass media advertising plans.”
With the launch of ‘Devil Doughnuts’ in Ahmedabad, Rasna has just forayed into the branded bakery sector in India. On the company’s new initiatives, Piruz Khambatta, chairman and managing director of Rasna Private Ltd said, “We have introduced doughnuts which are on par with the ones available in the US. We are also selling Danish cookies at our retail chain named ‘Devil’s Workshop’. Currently, we have four retail outlets in Ahmedabad.”
According to Khambatta, Rasna is planning to enter Mumbai markets with its bakery brands in the next few months. “We will be setting up a plant in Mumbai for our bakery brands--cookies and doughnuts,” he added. Clearly, it’s survival of the tastiest in the branded bakery sector in India.