Britannia to launch croissants with longer shelf-life

The biscuit-major, Britannia is preparing to launch its newest offering croissants by October this year.

The company had last year formed a joint venture with Greek baker Chipita for producing and selling croissants, a segment still untapped in India.

The company said the croissants will be produced at its Ranjangaon integrated food park near Pune in Maharashtra, which is likely to be launched by August.

The first line of the Rs 10-billion plant will start producing cakes, followed by biscuits, croissants and dairy products.

The firm will be offering several varieties of center-filled croissants, which will have a longer shelf-life than those available at bakeries.

Experts, however, believe that it may take several years before croissant as a category starts meaningfully contributing to its revenues. “New initiatives (like croissants, etc.) will take three to five years to have a significant impact on earnings,” equity research firm Macquairie said in a recent report. “The management expects Rs 2 billion revenue from the joint venture (with Chipita) in the next three years.” 

The company is focusing on the direct distribution model to have a greater penetration in rural areas and the Hindi heartland, where Parle is the biggest player because of the massive reach of its glucose biscuit, Parle G. Britannia currently reaches 1.8 million outlets directly and is looking to add 200,000-300,000 outlets every year. 

The rural market currently contributes 22 per cent to the company’s total revenue, which Britannia expects to go up to 35 per cent in three years.