Mondelez expects business in India to hit $2 bn by 2030
Premium- The maker of Cadbury and Oreo identifies areas to boost its current revenue from $1.2 bn
NEW DELHI :
Mondelez International, the maker of Cadbury chocolates and Oreo cookies, expects annual revenues from India to climb to $2 billion by 2030, growing from the current $1.2 billion.
The company will focus on growing its market share, both organically and inorganically, in the biscuits category, where companies such as Parle and Britannia dominate. It will also expand the per capita consumption of its chocolates and bakery products, driving sales across premium and low unit price segments.
India will play a “phenomenal" role in Mondelez’s growth plans till 2030, the company’s top management said in a virtual roundtable with the media. “The India business has a strong plan to deliver sustained low double-digit growth till 2030 in this country," Dirk Van de Put, chairman and chief executive officer at the company, said. “India is a business that is big, and that is growing quite nicely for us," he said.
In 2021, India contributed 19% to the company’s global revenues. The year also saw the company’s revenue here jump 21% to reach $ 1.2 billion. Its chocolates, health foods and drinks and cookies reach over 3 million outlets in the country.
Van de Put outlined key areas of growth, including expanding distribution, extending the pipeline of premium and lower-priced products, developing rural markets, and bolstering the biscuits category.
“We believe that we can grow the chocolate category, as well as our biscuit business. I think I’ve already alluded to a few ways that we would grow," he said, referring to distribution expansion, reaching more stores, and growing rural markets. “There’s also a number of areas such as gifting, which we believe has a huge opportunity and where chocolate, obviously, can play a big role. The premium segment we think in chocolate will continue to evolve and we want to be big players in that," Van de Put elaborated.
“In biscuits, we have 2% market share, which is small. So we’ve got a hell of a runway ahead of us," Van de Put said.
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The biscuits category, with brands such as Cadbury Oreo and Bournvita, contribute 12% to its business, which is lower than the average of the AMEA region. Mondelez will continue to invest in and grow its Oreo, Bournvita, and Cadbury brands to expand its share in the biscuits category.
“Oreo is leading the way. It’s only 10 years in the market, but it’s already $100 million in sales and growing very fast. Then, of course, we are using the Cadbury brand to also enter the biscuit segment through what we call choco-bakery products and cakes. We also are using Bournvita in some of the biscuit segments. So, I think biscuits will become bigger and bigger for us," he said.
Van de Put said the company wants to invest in infrastructure in India while also hinting at a possibility of an acquisition in the Indian market.
“It’s a market where we want to invest in infrastructure and also in acquisitions. We will certainly try to grow in the categories we represent; chocolates we are already doing very well. You can imagine that in biscuits or bakery products, there could be a certain interest for us trying to increase our presence in India. D2C (direct-to-consumer) would need to grow a little bit more before we feel that it offers us enough critical mass," he said.
The company draws a massive 72% of its India business from chocolate brands such as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury 5Star, and Perk, while 14% of revenues come from powdered beverages such as Tang and Bournvita.
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