PepsiCo India unveils Kurkure Twistkeen

PepsiCo India on Thursday launched new salty snacks brand Kurkure Twistkeens to take on the growing urban demand.

In a statement, the company said it plans to grow the business in the new 'finger snack format' category as part of Kurkure brand.

"As part of the plan to double the salty snacks business, the company is introducing a new category with Kurkure Twistkeens with variants Bikaneri, Andhra and Shahi," states the company.

PepsiCo India's snacking category Vice President Jagrut Kotecha said the company has always been at the forefront of innovation in the snacks category by creating categories and bringing locally relevant, great tasting and quality products to Indian consumers.

"With Kurkure Twistkeens, we aim to create an entirely new category in the salty snacks industry like we did with collet over the years. We are confident that this will resonate well with consumers and will prove to be another significant step in our goal to double our salty snacks business in India over the next five years," said Kotecha.

Kurkure Twistkeens will be manufactured at PepsiCo’s snacks manufacturing facility in Pune.

The company has come up with three variants - Bikaneri, Andhra, and Shahi - and theywill be available in 18 cities across India through ecommerce and select traditional trade channels.

It will be be available in Rs 15 and Rs 55 price points. Kurkure Twistkeens will be marketed through a 360-degree marketing campaign led by digital for awareness amongst urban consumers and through in shop activations and product trials.

PepsiCo India developed Kurkure Twistkeens based on an extensive research and insights across over 20 cities with over 5,000 consumers.

"The research suggested that consumers were looking for a modern and a convenient format to consume their favourite traditional namkeens. Over the past two years, PepsiCo worked on cutting-edge technology with its global and local R&D teams from three continents India, US and Mexico to develop a modern format retaining the flavour of Indian traditional namkeens. Kurkure Twistkeens is truly a snack made for the consumers, by the consumers," states the company.

PepsiCo India's four major brands Lays, Kurkure, Doritos and Cheetos are doing well in the market. While Lays is a Rs 2,000 crore brand, Kurkure is over Rs 1,000 crore.