PepsiCo going local in branded snacks, betting aggressively on Kurkure

PepsiCo is now foraying into baked snacks, a trend that is seeing rising demand with a more health-conscious mindset among consumers

Despite being an early bird in branded packaged snacks, PepsiCo India faces tough competition in this category even with a surge in the country's consumption of such products.     

PepsiCo was a pioneer in this segment, introducing global-standard potato chips under the Lays label and crunchy snacks under Kurkure. Today, it stands behind two local entities, Haldiram Foods and Balaji Wafers, in the Rs 335.6-billion savoury snacks market. And ITC, now at the fourth spot, is catching up. Parle Products is fifth. Till 2016, PepsiCo was ahead of ITC and Balaji.  

What has remained constant is the underlying