As per Nielsen India, the confectionery market in India is valued at $1.5 billion. But with the rise in competition, meeting customer demands and maintaining quality at affordable prices have become huge challenges for confectionary brands. But there are some regional players like the Indore based My Kingdom Foods Private Limited, which has managed to carve a distinct position in the market in a relatively short period of time. In an exclusive chat with Point of Purchase, Sunny Chhorwani, Director, My Kingdom Foods Private Limited, shared the confectionary company’s journey, challenges, market insights and expansion plans. Given below are excerpts from the conversation.

Can you first take us through a brief history of your company and how My Kingdom Foods built its brands?

The confectionery business was started by my grandfather. We used to do trading from Ulhas Nagar since the market in Indore was not that huge. When my father came into the business, he started manufacturing candies and lollipops. Initially, it did not do well and we decided to shut the business. We then got into trading of biscuits. When I joined the business, after completing my diploma, we used to manufacture only local products. A lot of Chinese confectionaries were imported during that period. Then there came a time when the government banned Chinese confectionary. This created a demand for those products in the market. This is when I sensed an opportunity and introduced our products in the market. In 2011, I started My Kingdoms Private Ltd and in 2013 we introduced Rajshahi Food Products, Rajshahi Foods Private Limited & then Dhara Enterprises. Today, we have 6 manufacturing units in Indore. So after 2012, it was a game changer for us.

Since you also export, how is the export market?

We have been exporting for the last three years and have been doing extremely well in places like Mauritius, Yemen, Dubai, Africa and nearby countries like Nepal & Sri Lanka. We have observed a specific pattern of our consumers and it is that they are more receptive if you give them value for their money, good packaging, & quality. Our products are not that simple, their novelty factor is quite high. This makes us stand apart from our competitors and helps us gain consumers' trust and confidence. Also, we keep conducting regular international & national exhibitions for our exporters to meet new customers and study new trends.

In the local market, how do you position your brand -what is the USP? And how do you compete with the national brands at the store level?

There is a huge scope for and consumption of FMCG products. We have persistently improved our market share as compared to other brands. Among the national brands, there are around 10-20 products, while we have around 200 products in our catalogue. This in a way gives us an edge over other brands. The variety, the price and the service we offer are all remarkably high. If a customer wants extra pieces overnight, we can deliver them as per his convenience. National brands lack that flexibility. I would say quality, packaging and flexibility are the USP of our company.

Read the full interview in Point-of-Purchase July Edition.