Tata Consumer, PepsiCo Reunite To Tap into India's Booming Snack Market

Tata Group’s consumer goods company Tata Consumer Products and PepsiCo have partnered to manufacture and sell packaged snacks at a time when national brands are facing stiff competition from the regional players. The collaboration will be between Tata Consumer’s Ching’s Secret and PepsiCo’s Kurkure, according to the Economic Times. 

This will mark the second such collaboration between Tata Consumer Products and PepsiCo, after their first joint venture, NourishCo Beverages was terminated in 2020. The two entered a 50:50 JV partnership in 2010 but after nearly a decade of partnership, Tata Consumer had acquired PepsiCo’s stake in NourishCo. 

Also Read: Haldiram’s Snack Empire Draws PepsiCo and Alpha Wave for Minority Stake

Indian Snacks’ Market Boom 

The partnership by the two snacks’ giants comes at a time when the Indian snacks market is experiencing growth. A report by market research firm IMARC Group has highlighted that the Indian snacks market is expected to grow at a rate (CAGR) of 9.08 per cent from Rs 42, 694.9 crore in 2023 to Rs 95,521.8 crore by 2032. 

“The rising popularity of convenient food products, increasing implementation of quality standards by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and increasing number of e-commerce brands and distribution channels represent some of the key factors driving the market,” the report mentioned. 

During an investor’s call last year, PepsiCo’s chairman and CEO, Ramon Laguarta, too had pointed out that India is a huge investment area for the American snack company. 

“We continue to see a lot of growth in many parts of our AMESA region, in particular, India is a big growth space for us and it is an investment area for sure...The opportunity is massive if you take a decade perspective,” said Laguarta. 

“We’re putting infrastructure on the ground and investing in the brands to make sure that we build the scale to capture what is going to be a high-demand market for many, many years,” the PepsiCo CEO added. 

Additionally, partnering with Tata Consumer Products isn’t the only investment the American snacks giant PepsiCo is eyeing currently. According to an earlier report by the Economic Times, PepsiCo, along with the Singapore government-owned investment firm Temasek, are running in the race to acquire a minority stake in the Indian snacks' giant Haldiram.