Post the success of Pass Pass Pulse in Kachcha Aam Flavour, which in a very short time became one of the most liked candies in the country, Noida-based DS Group has launched ‘Pulse Guava’, its second product in the hard boiled candy segment.
Mr. Shashank Surana, Vice President, New Product Development, DS Group, said, “Flavours are an integral part of DS Group’s history. With the launch of Guava flavour, the commitment to create innovative and exciting products for the Indian customers is further accentuated. Like the Kachcha Aam, Guava is a flavour that is popular across the country especially coupled with tanginess.”
The candy is being launched pan India leveraging on the distribution network of Pass Pass to reach out to the target group. The initial phase of the launch will be supported with BTL (below the line) activities like in-shop display, exclusive merchandise promotion and focused sampling through various consumer contact activities to garner visibility and reach. Subsequently, post the all India launch, a plan for ATL (above the line) activities will be drawn up to further give a push to the brand.
Test marketing of Pulse first began in January last year under Pass Pass—the umbrella brand for the confectionery business of the DS group, the makers of Baba chewing tobacco, Pass Pass mouth freshener and Rajnigandha paan.
By April the product was placed in Gujarat, Rajasthan and some areas of Delhi NCR and in subsequent months the distribution started pan India in phases.
“We had to launch in phases because the demand in the markets that we launched was very high and we want to first reasonably satiate those markets before we reached for new ones,” said Surana.
In just six months, without any promotions or formal launch, the candy had already done about Rs 50 crore in sales running purely on word of mouth.
“We were expecting Pulse to be a Rs 100 crore brand by end of FY15-16, however Pulse has already crossed the mark and has become a Rs 105 crore brand as of 31st January 2016,” he added.
From the initial two manufacturing units, the company currently has six – two in Telangana, two in Gujarat, one in Uttarakhand, and one in Greater Noida. They plan to add two more manufacturing units very soon in order to meet the increasing demand.
“We want to continue to keep evolving and add more exciting products to our portfolio. We want to see Pulse amongst the top 3 candies in India in coming two years. We are working towards launching two more flavours in this year,” said Surana on the company’s future plans.
Source: Economic Time
