Cadbury Inaugurates Largest Asia-Pacific Chocolate Facility in India

India: India chocolate market is seeing some positive developments as Cadbury India, part of Mondelez International, inaugurated its USD190 million factory in Sri City SEZ, on the border of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. This is the largest plant in the Asia Pacific. The plant is spread over 134 acres of leased land and it has an initial capacity of producing about 60,000 tonnes chocolate a year. In addition to Andhra Pradesh, the company also operates manufacturing plants in states like Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh in India.

Newly inaugurated plant will start making Dairy Milk chocolates and the company aims to take the annual production to 250,000 tonnes by 2020. The company plans to make this manufacturing facility a hub for exports in Asia. The company partners over 1 lakh farmers across four states, and procures 40 per cent of its cocoa requirement from the domestic farmers. This helps the company in maintaining efficient supply for its manufacturing and ensures consistent supply.

According to a report published by TechSci Research, “India Chocolate Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020”, chocolate market in India is projected to surpass US$ 17 billion by 2020. In 2014, Consumer chocolates segment dominated the Indian chocolate market, and this trend is expected to continue over the course of next five years. Product innovations, strong marketing strategies and increase in variety of products are driving consumer chocolate sales in India. Over the last few, apart from children, adult population has emerged as the key consumer segment for chocolate companies in the country. Consequently, manufacturers have been launching new and innovative chocolate products such as sugar-free and organic chocolates to lure adult consumers. In terms of regional sales, Northern India accounted for the largest share in 2014, followed by the Southern, Western and Eastern regions of the country.

According to TechSci Research, Indian consumers are evolving every day in their chocolate choices and chocolate manufacturers are offering products with different variants at different prices to tap that demand in the country.