Indian biscuit market projected to reach $7.25 billionin next four years

A biscuit is a small baked product, whose exact meaning varies markedly in different parts of the world. The origin of the word biscuit is from a Latin phrase (via Middle French) meaning cooked twice.

The Indian biscuits Industry came into the limelight and started gaining a sound status in the bakery industry in the latter part of the 20th century when the urbanized society called for readymade food products at a tenable cost.

Biscuits were assumed to be a sick man's diet in earlier days. Now, it has become one of the most-loved fast food products for every age group. Biscuits are easy to carry, tasty to eat, cholesterol-free and reasonably priced.

States that have a larger intake of biscuits are Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra and West Bengal, the most industrially-developed states, hold the maximum amount of consumption of biscuits.

Two sectors of the biscuit industry

In terms of volume, biscuit production by the organized segment is estimated to be 1.30 million tonnes.

In the organized sector, the industry is dominated by Britannia and Parle, which account for 70 percent of the industry's volumes.

Britannia's market share stands at Rs 27 billion. Parle derives a large portion of its revenues from low-priced biscuits. Parle-G and Britannia derive a fairly large share of their revenues from the medium- and premium varieties. In fact, Britannia's market share in the medium and premium varieties is significantly higher.

Other organized players include domestic players like Bakeman's, Champion, Kwality, Priya, and multinational corporations (MNCs) like SmithKline Consumer, Kellogg' s, Sara, Heinz, Excelsia (Nestle) and United Biscuits.

The unorganized sector consists of small bakery units, cottage, and household type manufacturing their goods without much packaging and distributing their goods in the surrounding areas. Lower overheads due to the limited local area, family management, focused product lines, and less expenditure on marketing help the unorganized sector to grow.

Scenario of the biscuit industry in India

India biscuit market stood at $3.9 billion in 2016 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.27 percent, in value terms, between 2017and 2022, to reach $7.25 billion by 2022.

In 2015-2016, the cookie segment, which includes brands such as Bournvita Biscuits and Britannia Good Day, witnessed a rising number of health-conscious consumers, an expanding working population, and increasing urbanization. These are boosting the country's biscuit market.

Moreover, augmented disposable incomes, along with changing lifestyles, increasing awareness regarding healthy diets, and changes in food consumption patterns, are some of the other factors expected to propel the demand for biscuits over the course of the next five years.

According to 6Wresearch, the India biscuit market is projected to reach $8.2 billion by 2023. The plain biscuit segment captured the majority of the market share in 2016. However, cookies and sandwich biscuits are expected to exhibit a high growth rate during the forecast period. 

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Media Courtesy : Fnbnews