Hershey India's MD Geetika Mehta on booming chocolate demand, product innovation and entering rural market

The market size for chocolates in India was Rs 15,512 crore in 2022. In 2027, it is estimated to become Rs 23,700 crore as per market research firm Euromonitor estimates. Chocolates are no longer considered just a treat for a special occasion. They are becoming a part of everyday repertoire, celebrating all occasions; gifting is becoming a big thing. Therefore, chocolates are going to grow in the foreseeable future. However if one compares chocolate consumption in the country with the Western counterparts, India is much lesser in terms of consumption, says Geetika Mehta, managing director, Hershey India.

The consumption of chocolate in India is around 200-300 grams per capita while in the US, it’s 10 kg.

Mehta says that Hershey is synonymous with chocolates in the US and the company imports the technological knowhow from the US and tweaks the chocolates for the Indian palette. She shares that sometimes Indian consumers prefer a different flavour profile. In India, Hershey’s Kisses Chocolate, Hershey bars and exotic dark chocolate are quite popular.

Hershey launched chocolates in India at a national level in 2020 and it has been playing in the premium market. It competes with Dairy Milk Silk and Ferrero Rocher but the company is trying to launch more affordable options to increase penetration.

The company has one-third of the market in the premium segment and is the third largest chocolate player in the premium category. For the rural category, Hershey has created a choco tube worth Rs 20 thus ensuring that chocolates can become accessible in the rural market. This acts as a sampling exercise while aiming to increase company's penetration in the country's rural markets.

"Distribution is also something we have significantly increased. Now, we go to almost 2,50,000 stores directly. What is a challenge for chocolates, especially our premium chocolates, is the tropical climate. Therefore, our distribution gets limited by the cold chain that we can make accessible. We have invested in 100,000 visi cooler which are cold chain solutions at the retail point of the sale. We don't wish to go to rural markets with our premium chocolates but we could scale in rural markets with our choco tube," Mehta says.