Navigating bitterness Of The Pandemic

COVID-19 PROVIDED A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON HOW PREMIUM CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY SHOULD GO ABOUT THEIR BUSINESSES

- SHRABONA GHOSH

The pandemic has given rise to evolving customers' needs and experiences. This trend has given an opportunity to companies to expand their market share and come up with expensive, premium ranges -- the chocolate industry is no exception to this. Like all other sectors, the COVID-19 had its implication on the industry, however, undeterred by the unprecedented crisis, companies adopted a fresh perspective on how they should go about their businesses in the future. "It gave us the opportunity to reimagine the ITC Fabelle brand. Given that boutique services were not accessible during Covid, we commenced home delivery of Fabelle chocolates via food-delivery apps as well as grocery platforms. We discovered a high demand and used these channels to meet it. To further scale up, we are now collaborating with Cloud kitchens to set up Fabelle infrastructure and doubling down on e-commerce to get Fabelle to our consumers," said Anuj Rustagi, chief operating officer, chocolates, coffee and confectionery, foods division, ITC Ltd.

During Covid, Hershey's in-home portfolio-syrup, spreads, cocoa powder, hot chocolate increased rapidly as consumers were experimenting with baking and cooking at home during the lockdown. "While the out of home portfolio was adversely impacted in the first few months, the same bounced back in 2021 and we have clocked category-leading growths (chocolates, milkshake). Thus, at an overall level, we have outpaced FMCG growth, during and post the pandemic," said Geetika Mehta, managing director, Hershey India. Covid-19 disrupted global supply chains and impacted communities worldwide. The small holder farmers were particularly hard hit. Though the Ferrero India business saw a slowdown during the pandemic, it has seen an overall pick up since.