Launched in 2019, Amul's foray into the highly competitive and fragmented Rs 37000 biscuit market has become national. The ads for Amul Butter cookies are now streaming across various markets. Although the brand is not yet in stores in Kerala, I guess it is a matter of time that the brand will be in the stores. Amul has been on a roll in the last couple of years with a slew of launches in various categories. The brand has decided to leverage the full potential of the equity and is experimenting with various products and categories.
Biscuits is a tough market to crack owing to the low entry barrier and fragmentation. The consumers in the category have fleeting brand loyalty and are swayed by new variants and innovative flavours. So it will not be an easy walk even for Amul. Just like what it did with the ice cream market with its " made with cow's milk" proposition, in the biscuit category, the brand is pivoting the market with the proposition of " 25% Amul Butter" ingredient. In a subtle way, the brand is referring to the presence of vegetable oil in the competitor's products creating jitter among the competing brands. The powerful narrative it created in the ice cream market with the education of consumers about ice-cream and frozen dessert made Amul a strong contender in the category. The same narrative is applied in the biscuit category also. For a consumer, the very Amul brand name is enough to enthuse trial and rest will depend on the product efficacy.
The challenge for Amul will be to create the variants and innovate in the product category. Sunfeast, Parle and the likes are bringing in new flavours, variants and new products and getting into the market quite fast. Amul is known for its distribution prowess and marketing muscle, it will be tested to the fullest in this category.
