The ever rising demand for chocolates has been largely met by brand Cadbury. The market leader in Indian chocolate segment, Cadbury has always risen to changing consumer habits. Their success mantra has not only been providing what consumers want but also where & how they want. When it comes to FMCG industry as a whole, it is very important to ensure that your products are always available in the market. If not, then there is a high chance of consumers switching from your brand to any other brand. Cadbury has consistently ensured that enough SKU’s have been stocked in all kinds of outlets, be it super market, departmental store or a convenience store. A consumer looking out for a Cadbury chocolate has rarely went back without getting one. The second most important factor after availability is the number of variants & consistency of the taste. Again, Cadbury has been able to score full marks in this segment. It has benchmarked itself in the chocolate category as it is a lone brand offering 10+ types of chocolates. Cadbury has consistently been able to provide the same chocolate taste throughout their journey.

A brand is successful only if it is marketed well.  Who better than Cadbury can define this sweet taste of success? One of their strong pillars for a dominated market share has been their marketing strategies. Cadbury has been a pioneer when it comes to advertising & promoting their product through different channels of media. They have stepped up to every occasion & advertised their products in an effective & efficient way. Infact, advertisement for them became a life saver after the worm controversy. They used Amitabh Bachchan to convey the message to the masses that Cadbury is safe to consume. This built up the confidence level of their audiences & from then there was no turning back for Cadbury. Personally I feel that Cadbury is doing no wrong when it comes to customer satisfaction, however I feel a hint of brand cannibalization for its products like Temptation & Fruit & Nut.

Talking about other players present in this Cadbury dominated market; the next player that I came across was Nestlé’s Kitkat & Amul chocolates. People’s immediate next choice after Cadbury was Nestlé’s Kitkat. It did not seem to be a surprising fact, as even for me, the next chocolate that I can think of other than Cadbury is Nestle. An important point to note over here, is that only due to lack of choices, people are able to remember Kitkat, else there is not much strong brand presence of Kitkat. Nestle too offers chocolates like Kitkat, Bar One, Munch & a decade old Milkybar. Nestle did well in promoting few of its products like Kitkat & Munch, however for other chocolates, there has been little or no advertisement at all. Talking in terms of availability, the chocolates that are advertised (Kitkat & Munch) are easily available viz-a-viz rest of its family of chocolates. When it comes to provide consistency in taste, it has however failed in products like Bar One & Milky bar.

Amul, once well known for its 6 different flavours of chocolates has completely vanished from the market. Since almost a decade, Amul has slowly & steadily succumbed to the gruesome competition provided by Cadbury, Nestle & other brands. It has whatsoever not tried to provide a resistance to this competition. One of the reasons might be due to heavy concentration in dairy products. After conducting a research, people seem to be aware of Amul chocolates but due to non availability of Amul chocolates, people have forgotten that Amul once provided finest of milk chocolates. Quality was never a problem for Amul chocolate, however, factors such as weak distribution channel, no communication strategy & less attractive packaging led to downfall of Amul chocolates. Amul chocolates which were once available at almost every shop are now seen in very few shops. As highlighted earlier, people prefer Kitkat as their next choice only due to lack of options. Amul should see this as an opportunity & try to revitalise their chocolate category with new variants & come out with a strong marketing & communication strategy. This will not only enable their visibility but will also help them eat up Nestlé’s market share & probably be the next immediate choice of chocolate for the Indian consumers. However, before doing that, Amul should build up a strong distribution channel & ensure that the chocolates are made available in all the stores possible. Amul chocolates are hanging on to a very thin thread, it is a matter of time before this thread breaks away & Amul chocolates are completely wiped off the  market.

An important insight from the analysis is that the consuming habits of Indian consumer are rapidly changing. The player that changes with this change will emerge as victorious. However, after a certain time, there will too be a need for change from the traditional Cadbury chocolates to something else. The consumers will not be hesitant to shift from brand Cadbury to some other brand if that brand gives more than what the consumers expect. Only time will tell if any other player is able to do so.