From ₹1 to ₹10: Perfetti’s candy gamble

Perfetti Van Melle, the Amsterdam-headquartered candy firm behind Chupa Chups, Mentos, and Alpenliebe in India, is pushing consumers toward higher price points of ₹5 and ₹10, even as ₹1 candies continue to dominate the market.

- Suneera Tandon

Nikhil Sharma, MD, Perfetti Van Melle India.

The shift is part of its effort to balance the portfolio in a candy market still heavily skewed toward ultra-low-value purchases.

Nearly 70% of Perfetti's business in India comes from the ₹1 segment, which dominates small mom-and-pop stores and drives the bulk of category sales. The company plans to increase the share of ₹5-and-above portfolio from about 30% over 3-4 years; this number was at just 7% in 2019. Execution will hinge on wider distribution expansion and product innovation.