Brings M&M candies to India

NEW DELHI: Mars International India Pvt Ltd, the local arm of American chocolate maker Mars Inc. on Wednesday said it will bring M&M, its candy brand currently sold across 100 other countries, to India.

This is the sixth chocolate brand that the family-owned American chocolate maker is bringing to India. Like its other brands, M&M is also a $1-billion brand globally. The last brand that Mars launched in India was Galaxy in November 2013. Its most successful brand in India is Snickers that accounts for most of its revenue in India. It also sells Mars, Bounty and Twix in India.

“With M&M, we wish to expand the bite size category in India with a shareable snack,” said Andrew Leakey, general manager (India and Indian subcontinent), Mars Chocolate Ltd.

M&M will initially be available in chocolate and peanut variants, and will be priced at ₹80 for a 45-gram pouch and ₹150 for a 100gram pouch. it will be sold at 84,000 retail outlets across India.

With M&M, Mars enters a category dominated by Cadbury Gems, a product sold in India by Mondelez International Inc. since 1968. Cadbury Gems is available starting at ₹5 for a 8.9-gram pouch.

The chocolate confectionary market in India is projected to grow at around 8% per annum between 2016 and 2021 to reach ₹16,200 crore (on constant value).