 "Nikhil Sharma, Managing Director, Perfetti Van Melle India")
Perfetti Van Melle expects to close FY26 with ₹4,000 crore revenue on the back of double-digit growth, as the company anticipates improved demand compared to the previous financial year.
“Last year (FY25) was tough for us and the whole industry. We had a couple of great years in 2022 and 2023, and we still haven't seen the kind of consumer demand,” Nikhil Sharma, Managing Director, Perfetti Van Melle India, told Business Standard.
The company closed FY25 with ₹3,500 crore revenue.
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Sharma explained that there are other growth levers the confectionery maker hopes to leverage, such as distribution expansion and consumer upgrades. Macro factors expected to support demand include an early monsoon, better agricultural produce this year, and tax incentives.
The company, known for brands such as Alpenliebe and Centre Fresh, now sees 30 per cent of its revenue coming from products sold at the ₹5–10 price point—a shift from the traditional ₹1 pricing. Sharma said the firm is aggressively working to increase the contribution of higher-priced products to 50 per cent of its revenue in FY26.
Perfetti Van Melle India has a distribution reach of about 6 million retail outlets, with direct access to around 1.2 million.
“We are working on increasing depth now, within the same shop, and that's where our focus will be in the coming years — to try and see what we can do to maximise our share of wallet in a particular outlet,” he explained.
On the company's revenue split, Sharma said rural India contributes about 55 per cent, while the remainder comes from urban regions.
When asked whether it is planning to introduce more products from its international portfolio, Sharma emphasised that these must be tailored to Indian tastes.
“The Indian product has to be vegetarian, and products have to be engineered for India… We have to customise it and offer ethnic flavours like sour candies, elaichi and mango. These flavours have to be offered locally to the consumer. We simply cannot import and bring those flavours to India.”
He also shared that 95 per cent of sales come from general trade, while modern trade contributes 3.5 per cent. The remainder comes from e-commerce. However, Sharma pointed out that e-commerce and quick commerce are becoming increasingly relevant, and the company is still working to improve performance in these channels.
“It's relevant because it shows us consumer preferences. It's relevant because it's growing, and it's relevant because we are living in a new world where we will need to adapt our packs to suit less mass-market and more specific consumer needs of this channel,” he explained, adding that it remains relevant from the futuristic approach of its business.
