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Purvita Chatterjee

MUMBAI, Aug. 12

TAKING its cue from Britannia's Tiger brand of glucose biscuits, the 50-year-old Parle has decided to stretch the franchise of its heritage brand to a more premium offering.

Parle G - Magix has been launched in two variants - as chocolate and cashew biscuits pegged at Rs 5 for 75 gm.

Boasting seven vitamins and two minerals, the new brand from Parle will carry the baseline `Super Strength, Super Power'. The account for the new brand will rest with the Mumbai-based Everest Advertising and sports the mandatory green dot to signify it is a totally vegetarian product. The biscuits also highlight the fact that `real cocoa and real cashew' are being used in the products.

The Magix brand of biscuits is being manufactured at the company's own factory at Neemrana in Alwar district of Rajasthan.

Speaking to Business Line, a Parle official said, "Although the new brand is a premium offering, it still comes under the economy range and the value-for-money segment."

Pitted at the same price as the coconut and cashew variants of the Tiger brand from Britannia, the launch is seen as a move to tap into the non-core glucose eaters who want to move up the value chain. Adds the Parle official, "We realise that the premium biscuit market is not growing but at the same time glucose is considered as a staple in the biscuits market and the variants are expected to bring in taste to the staple glucose offerings. It is basically for consumers who want to indulge in taste."

By moving up both on the price and value chain, Parle Biscuits does not expect any cannibalisation of its flagship brand of Parle -G. According to the Parle official, "The glucose category is currently growing at the rate of 10 per cent."

Pegged at Rs 3 for 35 gm, the Parle-G brand recently underwent a packaging revamp after unleashing a `My Dream Come True' contest. Parle - G continues to contribute 80 per cent of the company's Rs 1,350-crore turnover. Meanwhile, Parle does not intend getting `too premium' with its offerings. It has decided to restrict its Hide & Seek brand of premium biscuits to a chocolate-coated variant. It also has brands such as Krackjack in its portfolio.

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