Wrigley India scripts sweet story in mints business

American chewing gum legend Wrigley — part of Mars — has envisaged making a ‘fresh’ entry into the mints space in India, having rolled out its first offering, Doublemint Mints, in the country.

With the launch of Doublemint Mints, Wrigley has entered the freshening space in India, a segment it rules globally. Available in two flavours — Peppermint and Spearmint — the sugar-free product is available at Rs 10 for a 15-piece pack.

Talking to DH on the company’s ‘minty’ vision, Wrigley India Managing Director M V Natarajan said, “While we have Doublemint Mints in other countries too, in India, we’ve just made a foray. The reasons behind entering the mints business here is two-folds — firstly, we are a global brand with the technology and expertise to produce these products in a value-for-money way, and second, we’ve the research potential to understand and grow the market.”

The company’s strategy includes launching the right product (with right flavour and functional packaging); appropriate communication across the chain — activating retailers and distributors, and making the product available to buyers through traditional and modern trade channels; and use of the right technology and infrastructure for production.
The company developed the mints at its R&D centre in its Bengaluru plant, but will be producing the same at its facility in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.

While the size of the overall category of gums and mints is Rs 1,000 crore, the former occupies a whopping 70%, while the remaining 30% is held by the latter. Explaining the market dynamics revolving around the chewing gum and mints business in India, he said, “India is essentially a ‘chewing nation’, and the country is the top market in terms of gum transactions, with 15 billion chews — considering every chew as a transaction. Mints constitutes a new partition within the gums and mints space, and we can expect a strong growth trajectory for it.”

It must be noted that the Rs 300-crore Wrigley India is a leader in the pellet gums category, with Orbit, even as it enjoys fair following for its other gums and confections. “In terms of mints, we’ve been able to take the product from metros to other urban spaces,” Natarajan said, hinting that for now, the company aims to build market for Doublemint Mints in urban areas.