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Garuda PolyFlex Foods forays into India with Gone Mad Chocolate Sticks
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Thursday, 17 January, 2013, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
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fiogf49gjkf0d Garuda PolyFlex Foods Pvt Ltd, a recent entrant into the wafer category, launched Gone Mad Choco Sticks in India, and through its Gone Mad School Contact initative, the company reached out to over 22,000 kids in over 50 schools in Bengaluru.
Garuda, the parent company, is the food and beverage subsidiary of the Indonesia-based Tudung Group. PolyFlex, a Rs 200 crore luxury goods firm based in Bengaluru, teamed up with Garuda Foods to enter the Indian market in 2011.
It invested around Rs 50 crore to set up a green field production plant in Bommasandra Industrial Area on the outskirts of Bengaluru to manufacture the Choco Sticks.
“This is an international product which is developed in India, where research was conducted to suit the palate of this market. Prior to the launch of Gone Mad Choco Sticks, a pan-India market survey and sampling study was conducted which provided the indication that the Indian market was ready to go with a chocolate flavour,” V Jayachandran, managing director, Garuda, told F&B News at the sidelines of the launch in Bengaluru.
In fact, a visible trend is that chocolate consumption is on the rise in India, and consumers are eager to experiment on new brands, tastes and formats. “We are ready to take on 10,000 outlets in Bengaluru and another 15,000 across Karnataka. There is a dedicated distributor team which will access the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh among others. After consolidating our presence in these southern markets we would make efforts to tap the northern region,” he added.
The production plant would also manufacture jelly-based drinks to be marketed in cups from this February. “Therefore we would be looking at Indian market with two novel introductions. There are a couple of choco-based variations from Britannia and Sunfeast from ITC, apart from Mangharam wafers and Cadbury’s Perk, and unorganised players also vending similar variations. But what differentiates Gone Mad Choco Sticks from the rest is that these are cylindrical wafers filled with chocolate, which people of any age will find it difficult to resist. While our brand is targeted at school kids, it is seen to be irresistible to children and adults,” Jayachandran noted.
The Garuda chief said the product is of a high quality and is affordable (at a price point of Rs 5). These two points of success are expected to drive its sales in India. “With over 50 per cent of India’s population comprising youth, we are sure that Gone Mad Choco Sticks will be a hit,” he said.
Providing a peek into the production plant at Bommasandra, Jayachandran stated that the advanced manufacturing unit is well-equipped with imported equipment and will cater to the rapidly-growing demand for both Gone Mad Choco Sticks and the jelly drink.
In the coming years, Garuda plans to bring in more of its parent company's products, including biscuits, confectionery, snacks and beverages.
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