A Bigger Bite

Indore-based Prataap Snacks has grown to become India’s sixth-largest packaged snack maker thanks to its smart pricing that appeals to customers.

 

- Arnika Thakur

ANYONE WHO GREW up in the 1990s or had young children during the decade, in all likelihood, will remember Tazos and Boomer tattoos. The little discs with cartoon characters emblazoned on them were a craze with kids, who collected them, traded them, and bought numerous packets of Lay’s chips in pursuit of new Tazos.

Perhaps in a different demographic, something similar is happening today with Yellow Diamond Rings and the little toys that Indorebased Prataap Snacks puts inside its snack packets. Their fidget spinners, playdough, and other toys are an absolute hit today with children who snap up packet after packet of Rings just for the toys. It is hardly surprising that the snack maker dishes out millions of packets of the salty Rings every year, and packs millions of toys in them every day. The company changes the theme of the 50-paisa, China-made toys every two months. “The entire supply chain has to be overhauled every two months. New packaging, new toys, new commercials, and we have to manage the inventory level of the old and the new,” says Subhashis Basu, the recently hired chief operating officer of the company. “It’s a task that we have mastered, and also created an entry barrier in this segment for new players.”

Prataap Snacks was incorporated in 2009, but it’s already the sixth-largest organised packaged snack maker in India. It makes a host of snacks from Chulbule to Fungroo and Scoops, but close to 40% of its revenue comes from Rings, its most popular brand which sells like hot cakes in small towns and cities. The popularity of its snacks helped the company’s annualised consolidated revenue increase to Rs 1,036.7 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 909.4 crore the previous year. It also propelled the company to No. 340 on Fortune India’s Next 500 from No. 437 last year.