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Premium chocolate brands have ramped up their advertising spend for the Indian market as revenue growth surges significantly during the festive season. These Premium chocolate brands have increased their ad budgets by an average of 8-10% to expand reach and boost sales. Recently, several premium international chocolate brands have also entered the Indian market.

According to a report from Maximize Market Research Pvt. Ltd, the Indian chocolate market was valued at USD 2.74 billion in 2023, with revenue expected to reach USD 5.87 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 11.5% over the forecast period. This growth is largely driven by the rising demand for premium chocolates.

Albinder Dhindsa, CEO of Blinkit, had shared on his X account that 406 chocolates per minute were sold during Valentine’s week. Q-commerce platforms have significantly contributed to the growth of premium chocolate sales.

In the confectionery category, DS Group's ad spend for FY24 reached Rs 100 crore. Sanskriti Gupta, spokesperson for Läderach India at DS Group, noted, “In the luxury chocolate segment, Läderach has experienced over fivefold growth since its launch in India in 2023. Global brands are flocking to the country, recognizing the potential of its luxury market, primarily driven by a growing affluent class and an increasing demand for high-end experiences.”

Gupta added, “This momentum fuels our expansion plans. We recently launched our second store in Mumbai at Jio World Plaza, and we plan to open 5-7 more exclusive stores over the next two years. This festive season, we anticipate a 10% growth increase, especially as we focus on corporate and wedding-event gifting.”

Media agency experts indicate that premium  chocolate brands recently entering the Indian market have raised their ad budgets by 15-20%, while established brands have increased their spending by up to 7-10% for the festive season.

For Mondelez, premium chocolate accounts for 20% of its portfolio in India, with this segment growing 20-30% faster than the overall chocolate market. Ferrero, meanwhile, recently introduced its premium chocolate brand Rafaello to the Indian market.

Zoher Kapuswala, Marketing Head of Pralines at Ferrero India, commented, “The wave of premiumization in India has led to significant growth in premium chocolate sales. The launch of Rafaello was a strategic decision as we foresee high demand during the festive season. The chocolate is ideal for premium gifting, and we expect a strong response.”

Kapuswala also noted, “We have several strategies to enhance product reach and are targeting high-end buyers in our campaign.”

In recent quarters, companies like Unilever, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Pernod Ricard, Skechers, and Whirlpool have observed varied purchasing trends in India’s consumer market. Premium brands in the fast-moving consumer goods sector are growing at roughly twice the pace of their non-premium counterparts in India.

Gaurav Mirchandani, Founder Director of Candytoy Company, which recently partnered with Reliance Retail to supply confectionery toys for 1,400 stores, explained, “Our growth depends on the success of our partners. We currently received monthly orders of Rs two crore from Reliance Retail’s 200 stores, which we aim to scale up to Rs 4 to 4.5 crore per month by the end of this fiscal year.”

Mirchandani further added, “We manufacture candy toys for several companies, including Colgate Palmolive, Puma, MTR, Bournvita, Yellow Diamonds, Vistara Airlines, and AirAsia. With both domestic and international orders, we expect to close this fiscal year with Rs 260 to 280 crore.”

With the ongoing festive season, experts indicate that the premium chocolate brands are not only ramping up ad spending and opening exclusive stores for catering to festive gifting but are also driving year-round demand for premium chocolates. 

Premium chocolate brands boost AdEx amid Indian festive season

Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) on Thursday announced that it would be expanding its grocery stores in small towns in the upcoming quarters. During the 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM), company's Director Isha Ambani told investors that in the grocery segment, "Growth is driven by our focus on smaller towns, where over two-thirds of our new stores are opening. In many of these markets, we are the first modern retailer to establish a presence".

Besides, the company has also planned to extend the Milkbasket, a daily delivery service of essential products, to new geographies. Isha Ambani also mentioned that Reliance retail will also be establishing "7-Eleven" as a "leading  24x7 convenience destination, offering localized fresh food and beverages tailored to the Indian palate".

The retail arm of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) also has ambitious plans to enter the luxury jewellery segment. "We are exploring the fashion jewellery and accessories segment to broaden our market reach," Isha Ambani added.

Reliance Retail recorded a net profit of Rs 11,101 crore ($1.3 billion) in FY24, up 21% YoY. The company's Gross Revenue stood at Rs 3,06,848 crore ($36.8 billion), a growth of 17.8% over last year. The company opened 1,840 new stores, bringing the total store count to 18,836 in FY2024.

Additionally, Reliance Industries posted a consolidated turnover of Rs 10,00,122 crore ($119.9 billion) in FY24, becoming India’s first company ever to cross the Rs 10 lakh crore mark in annual revenues. The net profit of RIL stood at Rs 79,020 crore ($9.5 billion) in FY24. According to Chairman Mukesh Ambani, RIL remained the single largest contributor to the national exchequer, contributing Rs 1,86,440 crore ($22.4 billion) through various taxes and duties in FY 2023-24.


Reliance Retail to expand grocery stores in small towns, eyes luxury jewellery segment

Keep up with all the key people movements in the brand marketing ecosystem in Storyboard18’s CXO Moves. Here’s a round-up of the executives who are in, out, and in-between in the past two weeks.

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Prabha Narasimhan

Previous: Executive Director, Hindustan Unilever Ltd

Present: Managing Director, Colgate-Palmolive India

Prabha Narasimhan joined Colgate-Palmolive India as MD, taking over from Ram Raghavan who has moved to a global role. This is the FMCG company’s first hiring from outside the company at the top post in 12 years. The last time HUL hired from outside was in 2010, when it picked Mukul Deoras, also from HUL, to become MD of Colgate-Palmolive (India), CNBC-TV18 reported. Narasimhan joined HUL in January 2006 as a regional marketing manager before becoming a regional brand director for the company’s Lipton & Brooke Bond brands the next year, as per her LinkedIn profile. An Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore alumni, she rose through the ranks in HUL in over 15 years to become executive director for home care and vice-president, home care for Unilever, South Asia. Before HUL, she had a brief stint at Madura Garments as general manager, strategy.

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Laxman Narasimhan

Previous: Chief Executive Officer, Reckitt

Present: Chief Executive Officer, Starbucks; Member, Starbucks Board of Directors

Starbucks has appointed Laxman Narasimhan as the chief executive officer. Narasimhan, who will join Starbucks as incoming CEO on October 1, 2022, will work closely with Howard Schultz, interim ceo, before assuming the CEO role and joining the Board on April 1, 2023. At Reckitt, Nicandro Durante, current Senior Independent Director, will step into the role of CEO, as the Board evaluates and selects the future leadership. During the transition period, Laxman will be fully immersed in the company, spending time with Schultz and the management team, partners and customers. This will also include gaining in-depth exposure to the brand, company culture, and reinvention plan. This will initially include Starbucks store immersions, visiting manufacturing plants and coffee farms, connecting with partners around the globe as well as Starbucks long term business partners. Narasimhan has worked at McKinsey & Company and PepsiCo, before joining Reckitt. 

 
Ramanathan Balasubramanian

Previous: Group CEO, Ogilvy Indonesia

Present: Chief Marketing Officer, Ogilvy Asia 

Ramanathan B has joined Ogilvy Asia as the chief marketing officer. He has worked across agencies like RK Swamy/BBDO, Rediffusion DY&R, Ogilvy & Mather and Bates CHI&Partners. 

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Jayesh Sali

Previous: Head of Brand and Digital Marketing - South Pacific region, Vodafone

Present: Marketing head - fashion and lifestyle, Reliance Retail

Jayesh Sali has been appointed as the marketing head of the fashion and retail division by Reliance Retail. At Vodafone, he was responsible for driving brand expansion and digital innovation across the region. Sali, who has 15 years of experience, has worked across JWT, L’Oreal, and headed an EV emerging startup as the head of brand strategy. 

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Karan Shroff

Previous: CMO, Unacademy

Present: Not known

Karan Shroff, who was the chief marketing officer of learning platform Unacademy, has decided to quit the edtech major and is currently serving his notice period. In September 2021, he was promoted to Partner. 

Shroff has worked across Wizcraft International Entertainment, Bertelsmann, Herbalife International India etc. Shroff is also the co-founder of Pixies Events. Prior to joining Unacademy, he was the head of brand marketing at Xiaomi India.

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Hari Krishnan

Previous: MD, Zenith India

Present: MD and Head of Content Practice, Publicis Groupe

Publicis Groupe has appointed Hari Krishnan as the managing director and head of content practice. Krishnan, who has three decades of experience, has worked across Clarion Advertising, Ogilvy & Mather, Bates India, Grey Worldwide, JWT, The Blue Hive, Cheil Worldwide Inc. Further, he was also the strategic advisor of an independent venture he had launched, CultureDrum. Two weeks ago, Publicis Worldwide India appointed Oindrila Roy as the managing director. 

Amit Nandwani

Previous: Executive Creative Director and Head of Content, Leo Burnett

Present: Not known

Amit Nandwani, who was the executive creative director and head of content at Leo Burnett has stepped down from his position. Nandwani has two decades of experience and has worked across Ogilvy, McCann Worldgroup, JWT (now Wunderman Thompson), DDB Mudra and RMG David.

Last month, Leo Burnett had appointed Bala G as executive creative director. And, the agency also bagged the creative mandate of PepsiCo India. 

Amit Ojha

Previous: Head of Marketing Partners, Meta India

Present: Not known

Amit Ojha, who had served as the head of marketing partners at Meta India has stepped down from his position. He joined Meta in 2018 as the head of agency business. Ojha started his career with Bharti Airtel as the DGM of Brand and Media. From there, he went on to work at ibibo Group, Yatra Online Pvt Ltd, Publicis Groupe and Nestle. 

Nidhi Sehdev

Previous: Senior Brand Manager - Lakme, Unilever

Present: Senior Global Brand Manager - Lux, Unilever

Unilever promoted Nidhi Sehdev as the senior global brand manager of Lux. Sehdev had joined Unilever as a brand executive in 2011. 

Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor

Previous: Chief Business Officer, and Vice President - Sales, Snap Inc

Present: President - Worldwide Advertising; and Vice President - Advertising Sales, Netflix

Streaming platform Netflix has hired Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor to its leadership team. Netflix is in the process of building an ad-supported version of the company's streaming service, which is expected to be launched next year. Gorman has more than two decades of experience and has worked across Variety magazine, Yahoo and Amazon. Naylor, who also has two decades of experience, has worked across iVillage, NBCUniversal, Inc. and Hulu. Netflix is looking to charge brands premium prices for advertising on its ad supported platform.

Anil Jayachandran

Previous: Head of Communications Planning, Omnicom Media Group Malaysia

Present: Chief Strategy Officer, Infectious Advertising 

Independent advertising agency Infectious has appointed Anil Jayachandran as the chief strategy officer. Jayachandran, who has more than three decades of experience, has worked across Contract India (JWT agency), Lowe Lintas + Partners, Ogilvy & Mather, Universal Media (McCann), Leo Burnett etc.

Rijuta Richi

Previous: Customer Experience Head - India, Ogilvy

Present: Marketing and customer experience head, SanKash

Travel fintech company SanKash has appointed Rijuta Richi as the marketing and customer experience head. Richi has more than a decade experience and has worked across RED Express, Google, NIIT Limited, Digitas India etc.

Mohammedullah Shaikh and Richa Chugh

Previous: Head of Customer success and Delivery, Grapes; Digital Head - West region, Motivator

Present: Senior VP & Head – Tech Services, and VP - Media, Digitas

Digitas India, the marketing and technology Services brand from Publicis Groupe, roped in Mohammedullah Shaikh and Richa Chugh. The duo will report to Sonia Khurana who is the COO. Shaikh, who comes with an experience of over 22 years in technology consulting and governance, will lead all technology services mandates at the agency. Further, he will work closely with Khuranaand Roopesh Pujari (CTO, Publicis Groupe). Chugh has over 11 years of experience across various digital media, which ranges from creative, to social media, tech, and media planning. 

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Siddharth Mantri

Previous: Chief Product & Growth Officer, MX Player

Present: Chief Product & Strategy Officer, Disney+

Siddharth Mantri has joined Disney+ as chief strategy officer. In March, he joined the company as the chief product officer. His responsibility includes running product management, design, analytics/data science, support & business strategy for Disney+ across India, Israel, Africa, Middle East, South Asia and SouthEast Asia. Mantri has more than 15 years of experience and has worked across Larsen & Toubro Infotech, Microsoft and Grab. As per reports, by the end of 2022, Disney+ will launch in-app commerce features.

Compiled by Kashmeera Sambamurthy

CXO Moves: Colgate-Palmolive new MD joins; Execs in and out at Dentsu, Ogilvy Asia, Reliance Retail and Unilever

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