MUMBAI: ‘Munch it, lunch it, soup it.’ That’s the tagline of Wai Wai, an instant noodle product, which has launched in India.
Wai Wai will be stepping into the instant noodle market which is currently estimated at Rs 4 billion. It can be eaten in three ways: straight out of the pack, cooked, or even as a soup. It brings in two variants – Wai Wai Brown (veg and non-veg), priced at Rs10 and Wai Wai white (veg and non-veg) at Rs11.
CG Foods India, a subsidiary of a US$ 300 million Cinnovation Group, is bringing Wai Wai into India. CG has a technical collaboration with Chaudhary Group of Nepal.
Commenting on the company’s entry into the Indian instant noodle market, Chaudhary Group director Nirvana Chaudhary said, “Our decision to enter India was driven by two factors: Firstly, our ability to offer value-added instant noodles to consumers, which can be eaten straight out of the pack or cooked or even as a soup and expanding the choice set of instant noodles available. Secondly, the category offers a tremendous growth opportunity as processed food accounts for 53 per cent of the total food consumption in the country. We aim to reach Rs 3 billion landmark and establish CG Foods as the 2nd largest noodle brand in the next 3 years.”
The noodle market is driven by taste, convenience, affordability and availability, states an official release. CG Foods India is setting up two manufacturing units in Sikkim and Uttaranchal, with an investment of around Rs 400 million to manufacture Wai Wai and other snack foods like potato chips and cheese balls in technical collaboration with Chaudhary Group of Nepal.
Each of these facilities will be spread over an area of 5-6 acres and have a production capacity of 10,000MT each. The new facilities will help the company cater to the entire north-east, north, west and east Indian region.
The company has earmarked an advertising budget of Rs 600 million, which will include electronic, outdoor and print media to create visibility and awareness for Wai Wai noodles in India.
Commenting on the marketing strategy for Wai Wai noodles CG Foods India CEO T K Gupta said, “Wai Wai noodles will target the in-home consumption category. The noodles will be marketed using both above the line advertising as well as a complete below the line programme that will ensure extensive consumer sampling and market demonstrations.”
CG Foods plans to have an initial network of 1000 distributors in the first year, spread across major town and cities in India. The group also plans to target 200,000 retail outlets across India, to gain a competitive edge by being efficient in the supply of their products to consumers and improve profitability, states the media release.
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