Brand Equity of 3 Major Biscuit Brands Based on Consumer Perception

Biscuit Industry Overview

• India is the third-largest producer of biscuits following the United States and China. 
• Penetration of biscuits in urban and rural areas is 85% and 55% respectively
• The Indian biscuit market is 1.1 million tonnes per year.
• Research reports say 90% of Indians buy biscuits.

Biscuit Industry Growth Drivers

India is the world’s largest biscuit-consuming nation with great penetration in urban as well as rural areas.  The Indian biscuit industry is driven by many growth factors that will result in considerable growth in the biscuit industry. Below listed are the major factors contributing to the growth of the Indian biscuit market:

1. Increasing disposable income
2. Changing lifestyles
3. Growth in organised retail
4. Increasing consumption of processed and packaged food
5. Shift to premium biscuits
6. Growing health awareness
7. innovation in biscuits
8. Attractive packaging
9. The rising trend in E-retailing
10. Expanding working population
11. Increasing urbanization

Top 4 Customer Perceptions

Brand managers and marketers should look through the eyes of the customers to see how they experience brands in the real world. Marketers are no more limited to just nice words and advertising – it has evolved into knowing customer perceptions. It is important to know how customers really feel about their brands and what are the drivers of brand loyalty. 

Customer perception plays a major role in buying behavior. Hence companies are going the extra mile to create a pleasant and happy customer experience. Companies are ready to spend money and effort to influence customer perception and drive profitable consumer behavior.

We, at Clootrack capture every experience that customers have with their brands. We analyze thousands of customer experiences to capture what people feel about a brand, and in turn derive priceless insights into products and competition.

Clootrack went beyond just social platforms to track discussions – online forums, social media groups, internal data such as customer care tickets, chatbot extracts, emails, and any other internal maintained forums. And all this is to understand customer perception – what your customers and prospects think of your brand – to analyze the perception drivers for biscuit brands.

Here we explore the evolving biscuit industry landscape and the top customer perception drivers, delight drivers, and brand equity.

1. Taste Of Biscuits

Consumers are rapidly evolving in terms of taste preferences towards the variety of biscuits available in the market.  No wonder a lot of varieties have taken place such as cookies, cream-filled biscuits, nuts, and fruits varieties, etc. As per the report compiled by Clootrack based on 6,693 customer conversations, taste stands out as the number one driver for consumers to reach out for biscuits. Customers express their love for the unique taste of biscuits, tea, and snack time biscuits taste as well as the same taste maintained by some manufacturers over the years. Market players need to come up with product innovations to enhance the taste of the biscuits to attract and retain their consumers’ interest.

2. Cost

Biscuits in India are available for a price as low as Rs. 5 making them affordable for all sections of society. Biscuits form a common product irrespective of rich or poor consumers. This is one of the important drivers for consumers of the biscuit industry. The biscuits industry will see exponential growth over the next few years in India and this will be possible due to the value for money, perfect price, and affordable pricing strategies making biscuits more affordable for consumers. Biscuit makers should procure raw materials and labor at a competitive price in order to keep the cost at bay. The industry should invest in innovation to produce biscuits at an affordable price.

3. Ingredients/Natural Flavors

With the rise in consumer awareness about ingredients and health benefits, consumers are asking for low sugar and low-calorie biscuits, pushing manufacturers to enhance nutrition and reduce sugar in biscuits. Consumers are looking forward to healthy ingredients, natural ingredients, and nutrition as a combination in biscuits. With increasing consumer demand for nutritious and safe food, biscuit makers should go the extra mile to make biscuits a healthy choice for its consumers. Including healthy ingredients such as oats, millet, whole wheat, multigrain, sugar-free, and natural flavors, will further contribute to the biscuit market. 

4. Range of Flavors

Top 3 Emerging Trends

The biscuit industry in India has seen consistent growth and is witnessing a boom in market share. The industry is going through phases of innovation which is seen in the form of new packing, attractive flavors, innovative shapes, heightened taste, and healthy variants. The industry is undergoing a lot of changes due to the changing taste preferences of consumers.  Here are the top 3 emerging trends in the biscuit industry in India:

1. Healthy And High Fiber Biscuits

With all the health talks doing rounds, it has not spared the biscuit industry. A biscuit that comes with nutritional factors such as carbohydrates, fats, and fibers and is essential to human health has emerged as a new trend in the industry.  The nutritional value that biscuits offer makes it a highly preferred replacement for breakfast. Health-conscious consumers prefer to have low sugar and low-calorie biscuits and this is motivating the biscuit manufacturers to develop healthy and high fiber biscuits.

2. Exotic Fruits And Nuts In Biscuits

Consumers seem to say ‘Normal is boring. The emerging trend in the biscuit industry is to have biscuits packed with wholesome exotic fruits and nuts. A variety of fruits and nuts such as apples, bananas, mangoes, hazelnuts, pecans, figs, pears and cranberries, and much more have been emerging as a favorite among consumers. Consumers are asking for a little extra crunch from these totally exotic fruits and nuts which are boosted with healthful ingredients that taste even better!

3. Local And Historical Brands

As per a survey, consumers in India prefer local brands the most. Indian brands are able to understand consumer needs and hence are preferred over global brands. It is observed that local and historical brands are becoming an emerging trend in India. Biscuit manufacturers understand Indian consumers and all about how the consumers consume, where and when he consumes biscuits. This has led to a large acceptance of local biscuits by Indian consumers.