Haldiram Overtakes PepsiCo As India’s Largest Snack Company

It’s been a long time coming (over two decades) but Haldiram has finally eclipsed PepsiCo to become India’s largest snack company. This is mostly due to the fact that customers have started leaning toward namkeen to satisfy their hunger pangs as opposed to chips and the like.

Sales Figures

According to Economic Times, Haldiram posted sales of Rs 4,224.8 crore in the year ended September, compared with PepsiCo’s Rs 3,990.7 crore from brands such as Lay’s, Kurkure and Uncle Chipps, according to the latest Nielsen data sourced from executives. A year earlier, PepsiCo’s sales stood at Rs 3,617 crore compared with Haldiram’s Rs 3,262 crore.

“There was a sharp increase in raw material prices for several snacking products, especially nuts. However, we maintained our price tag and absorbed losses, which helped us gain share not just from existing players but also the unorganised segment since the price differential narrowed down,” said Kamal Agarwal, 43, a fourth-generation member of the founding family. “Consumers are also correlating healthy food with Indian snacks and namkeen but chips are perceived to be unhealthy.”

PepsiCo Denied The Ranking

Speaking to ET, PepsiCo said it wouldn’t comment on “country-specific market share or analyst reports” but maintains its ranking. Comparisons wouldn’t be apt owing to the difference in product categories.

“In the salty snacks segment, we continue to be the leaders, which is also the fastest-growing category in overall snacks,” a spokesperson said. “In the western salty category, with strong double-digit growth, Lay’s has been our fastest growing food brand in the last year on account of premiumisation and innovation with Lay’s Maxx and Shapes. In the nachos category, we scaled our presence with the ‘Made in India’ Doritos, and the product is seeing strong preference and traction amongst consumers. We have further expanded our salty snacks portfolio last year with Kurkure Triangles, which is also growing in double digits.”