With Oreo & Cadbury in the bag, Mondelez eyes more brand tie-ups in India

Firm has tied up with various regional dosa and sweets makers in Chennai to come up with chocolate dosa, Mysore Pak and other products

After coming up with Cornetto Oreo and other collaborative products, Mondelez India is looking at more such tie-ups with other companies as well as within the firm itself. Through such efforts, which have largely been driven by innovative products, the chocolates major is pinning its hope to stay ahead of the competition in the country.

“We will continue to evaluate such collaborations; not only with brands outside Mondelez but with those also within. The idea is to get our brands to enter new categories,” Anil Viswanathan, director of marketing of chocolates at Mondelez India told Business Standard.

In the recent past, Mondelez had worked with FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) to roll out Cornetto Oreo, an innovative cone ice-cream. While HUL owns the Cornetto brand, Mondelez owns the Oreo brand besides the mother brand Cadbury.

According to Viswanathan, the HUL Cornetto Oreo has been a “huge success” and Mondelez followed this up with Oreo Tubs and Gems Ice creams.

“Similarly, Silk Oreo and Cadbury Oreo Dipped have been runaway successes. We intend to accelerate the momentum through many more agile innovations that’ll help us stay ahead of the ever-changing consumer demands”, he told this newspaper.

The Indian chocolate market is pegged at $1.5 billion, growing at 10 per cent and Mondelez has around 66 per cent market share.

However, the per capita consumption of chocolate in India is 130 gm a year while in the UK, it is over 10 kg, which leaves huge headroom for category expansion.

Apart from HUL, Mondelez has been collaborating with other regional players too. To explore the possibility of adding its flagship Cadbury’s Dairy Milk to various products, it tied up with various regional dosa and sweets makers in Chennai to come up with chocolate dosa, Mysore Pak (a regional sweetmeat) and other products.

Viswanathan said such efforts have resulted in a strong brand connect for itself as well as build relevance to the category.

“As leaders in the snacking category, we’re closely watching consumer trends and preferences. This helps us offer products that are relatable for our audiences yet well-positioned to disrupt the category. We are always looking for ways in which we can grow the category and drive consumption,” he told this business daily.

In some of the retail café chains as well, Mondelez has been building a significant presence where its products are used to create chocolate desserts.

The company feels this trend of collaborative efforts with its chocolate brands is here to stay and will be leading its growth story in India.

In the past, Mondelez had collaborated with sweet shops in West Bengal to come up with Cadbury Mishti, a local sweetmeat with Cadbury chocolate as one of the ingredient. Its success prompted the company to explore adjacencies.

In terms of innovation, Mondelez has introduced the Cadbury Dairy Milk Spready (a spread), a chocolate with 30 per cent less sugar and a red velvet variant of its Silk Oreo. At the dawn of the festive season, Mondelez came up with the Cadbury Dark Milk, which is a blend of 40 per cent dark and 60 per cent milk chocolate.

“As the festive season moves forward, will have more surprises for our audiences – whether it is through products or formats in which they’re offered,” Viswanathan said.

• Mondelez India exploring collaborations both within and outside company for its brands
• Wants its brands to be present across categories
• Have already rolled out Cadbury Mishti, Chocolate Dosa, Chocolate Mysore Pak etc
• Looking at more regional collaborations
• More innovative products to be rolled out soon