Pulse, the tiny hard-boiled candy from DS Group has set the pulse of FMCG sector racing as it equaled the mighty Coke Zero’s record in terms of sales. Pulse has now churned out Rs 100 crore sale within 8 months; a record which none of the candies available in India has ever achieved.
Launched in early part of 2015 in only two states: Gujarat and Rajasthan, and expanded all over the country without any major advertisement campaign (which is the hallmark of DS Group’s products like Paas Paas and Rajanigandha), Pulse suddenly, and exponentially become the darling of sweet candy market within 8 months, even beating the growth of FMCG sector.
Revenues of Rs 100 crore means that 100 crore pulse candies priced at Re 1 has been sold in India in the last 8 months; or 40 lakh candies per day. Due to this, the overall sweet candy market is witnessing an upswing in sales, which was suffering from a mini-slowdown due to lack of any innovative products.
Besides Pulse, other hard-boiled candies such as Mango Bite and Alpenliebe are also witnessing sound growth, due to which Rs 6000 crore of sweet candy market in India is growing 1.5 times the growth rate of FMCG sector in India. If the sweet candy market is growing at 14% annually, then the hard-boiled candy market, which is worth Rs 2100 crore, is growing at a rate of 24% annually. And Pulse candy has a big role to play in that.
More Price = More Revenues?
Defying all logic of business and growth, Pulse candy is actually expensive than most of the sweet candies, yet it is experiencing more growth. 40% of all sweet candies (including Hard-boiled) are priced at 50 paisa per unit; but Pulse is priced at Re 1. This has actually changed the market equations, and unleashed a new war which is not based on the price but the quality.
Shashank Surana, VP, new product development, at DS Group, said, “We launched it at Re 1. Other companies followed suit. Before that, everybody was selling 4gm hard boiled candies for 50 paise,”
Secret of Pulse Candy?
DS Group researched this market for 2 years, as the concept was finalized in 2013; but was launched in January 2015. They found that raw mango or kaccha aam is the most common fruit across India, as it being consumed in various form and taste; right from Jammu to Kanyakumari.
Statistically, kaccha aam and mango flavors constitute 50% of overall hard-boiled candy market, as evident from the success of MangoBite. DS Group capitalized on this factor, and made a huge dent.
There is an interesting Quora reply as well, which explains the success of Pulse candy. According to a self-confessed ‘Pulse Addict’, the emergence of salty ‘Aamchur’ power suddenly triggers that addiction, as both sweet and salty elements combine, thereby making it irresistible. And pricing of Re 1 makes in huge convenient to purchase it again and again.
Besides, the distribution power of a massive company like DS Group can be another reason of its huge success. Word of mouth has also been attributed as a major reason for it’s success.
Do you love Pulse? What makes you have it repeatedly? Do let us know by commenting right here!
