Parle overtakes Britannia in Indian biscuit market

According to A.C Nielson, Parle has overtaken Britannia in the biscuits market which is Rs 11,000 plus in terms of revenue. Parle has close to 45% share of the biscuits market while Britannia has 38% share. For years, these two companies were tied in market share with 35 % share each.

The advantages which parle has had is its better distribution in the rural market along with competitive pricing. Definitely 2 measures which give it competitive advantage. On the other hand, Britannia increased its pricing which subsequently reduced its volume thereby affecting its market share.

Nielsen data shows that Good-Day’s share dropped from 31.6% in 2009-10 to 27.8% in the April-September period, while Parle share increased from 11.3% to 17.9% during the same period. Parle also managed to push its share in the Rs 3,312-crore glucose biscuit segment where Parle G now accounts for more than three-fourths of the category.

The share of Britannia’s Tiger glucose slipped from 12.2% in 2009-10 to 11.7% in April-September this year, while the share of the third significant player in the category, ITC’s Sunfeast glucose, remained constant at 8.8%
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In salted crackers, Britannia Time Pass is the only major brand that lost share, to 10.6% in the first half of current fiscal from 11.3% in the whole of last year, the Nielsen data shows.

However, analysts also feel that the data can be misleading currently as Nielson has a lag time in reporting as a result of which Britannia which has been gaining market share rapidly in the past three months might again be neck to neck with Parle lets keep watching.