Big B to promote Cadbury chocolates, Dairy Milk to get facelift

Cadbury India, the local arm of British confectionery giant, is giving a facelift to its flagship brand Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM), mired in worm controversy.

Apart from relaunching the product with a new packaging, it has also roped in superstar Amitabh Bachchan (AB) to endorse and promote Cadbury chocolates.

For Bachchan, it will probably be the seventh brand to endorse as ambassador. The list of brands with which he has already been associated includes ICICI Bank, Parker pen, Nerolac paint, Sahara, Reid & Taylor and Pepsi.

"Though Bachchan has been endorsing many brands in the country, we did a consumer research and found that Bachchan fits with the image of Cadbury's products," Bharat Puri, managing director of Cadbury India said.

In the first phase, it has strengthened the packaging of CDM 13 gm (Rs 5) stock keeping unit (sku) with double wrapper for maximum protection.

The chocolate is wrapped in aluminium foil and enclosed in a poly flow pack, which is completely sealed on all sides. The Rs 5 CDM bar is the largest contributor within CDM portfolio.

In the second phase, the larger CDM packs will come in poly-coated aluminium foil, which will be heat-sealed and then wrapped in the branded outer package.

The new packaging techniques are the first ever in chocolate packaging in the world.

The new packaging would be extended to Cadbury's moulded chocolate brands such as Fruit and Nut, Crackle, Bournville, Caramello and Double Deck.

The company has invested around Rs 12-15 crore for importing the machinery for packaging.

The packaging cost will increase by 12-15 per cent to its total cost of production.

Puri pointed out that even though Cadbury India will incur additional cost it will not pass that on to the consumers.

Cadbury is the market leader in chocolates with a market share of 70 per cent. Cadbury Dairy Milk has a share of 30 per cent.