Sweet Success

HOW PULSE CANDY GAVE THE BIG SPENDERS IN THE ₹4,000-CRORE MARKET A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY

- Christina Moniz

The purchase of a ₹1 sugar candy is typically an impulse decision without much deliberation on the brand. More often than not, your stash of candy at home is thanks to the neighbourhood kirana store owner who ran out of change. Given just how low involvement the hard-boiled candy category is, it is no easy task for a brand to make its mark.

Yet Dharampal Satyapal (DS) Group found a way to do that when it launched the kachcha aam flavoured Pulse Candy a decade ago. Less than 12 months since its launch, Pulse became a ₹100-crore brand and in the last fiscal, hit the ₹750-crore mark. Rajiv Kumar, vice-chairman of DS Group, says that the brand has been growing at a 15% CAGR, higher than the industry rate of 9%. With a 19% share in India's ₹4,000-crore hardboiled candy segment, citing Nielsen data, Kumar adds that the brand is a clear market leader. He expects the Pulse brand to reach the ₹1,000-crore mark in the next two years.