case study on lehar kukure
epsiCo launched Kurkure 15 years ago and has retained a dominant market share for the brand despite intense competition from both organised and unorganised players. In this period the brand also overcame some challenges including allegations that the snack was unhealthy. The case study looks at how PepsiCo managed to grab and retain the market space.
When it comes to describing the 15-year-old brand Kurkure, the Rs 1,000-crore snackbrand of PepsiCo India, the old-timers often talk of luck. One of the members of the founding team, Geetu Verma says, "The birth of Kurkure was part necessity, part serendipity." Currently the Executive Director (food and refreshments) at Hindustan Unilever, Verma had strategised the brands launch in 1999. The need was to carve out a space as a competitor to namkeen and capture the market faster than potato chips. Initially the team's challenge was to differentiate the product in a market where potato chips at Rs 300/kg were also a significant premium to the namkeens, the traditional Indian salty snack, at Rs 100/kg. The luck was in how Kurkure did stunningly well in the market.
Unlike potato chips or namkeens, Kurkure offered a different and compelling taste experience thanks to the different technology used to make it. The ingredients are fed into a machine that makes puffed extrusions or collette, which are then cut to desired length. It was a new experience for India and PepsiCo India managed to offer a compelling taste at a competitive price. "We had the same mix as a 200gm bag of namkeen for Rs 20 but we delivered a bag size that was almost 1.7 times bigger," says Verma. While a local snack of same quantity was of the same price, potato wafers were almost double the price.
Instead of a purely corn-based product, the team came up with a spicy flavoured Masala Munch made of lentils, rice and corn. "We were not sure if people would take to the new brand and so we had called it Lehar Kurkure," says Deepika Warrier, Vice
When it comes to describing the 15-year-old brand Kurkure, the Rs 1,000-crore snackbrand of PepsiCo India, the old-timers often talk of luck. One of the members of the founding team, Geetu Verma says, "The birth of Kurkure was part necessity, part serendipity." Currently the Executive Director (food and refreshments) at Hindustan Unilever, Verma had strategised the brands launch in 1999. The need was to carve out a space as a competitor to namkeen and capture the market faster than potato chips. Initially the team's challenge was to differentiate the product in a market where potato chips at Rs 300/kg were also a significant premium to the namkeens, the traditional Indian salty snack, at Rs 100/kg. The luck was in how Kurkure did stunningly well in the market.
Unlike potato chips or namkeens, Kurkure offered a different and compelling taste experience thanks to the different technology used to make it. The ingredients are fed into a machine that makes puffed extrusions or collette, which are then cut to desired length. It was a new experience for India and PepsiCo India managed to offer a compelling taste at a competitive price. "We had the same mix as a 200gm bag of namkeen for Rs 20 but we delivered a bag size that was almost 1.7 times bigger," says Verma. While a local snack of same quantity was of the same price, potato wafers were almost double the price.
Instead of a purely corn-based product, the team came up with a spicy flavoured Masala Munch made of lentils, rice and corn. "We were not sure if people would take to the new brand and so we had called it Lehar Kurkure," says Deepika Warrier, Vice