In India, the biscuits/cookies category enjoys wide market reach, with nine out of 10 Indians consuming them in the past month. Marie and glucose are the most popular types, with 30% of consumers reportedly consuming six or more varieties of biscuits/cookies.
While indulgence remains a priority, the rising health consciousness among Indians is prompting consumers to seek healthier options. This Report examines consumers’ interest in health-focused offerings within indulgent food and drinks. It also identifies specific health-centric innovations of interest in the biscuits/cookies sector. Additionally, it explores the untapped potential for innovations catering to individuals interested in healthy ageing.
The report also highlights key purchasing drivers, providing an in-depth look at flavour innovations and strategies for building brand popularity to succeed in this highly competitive market.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Types of packaged biscuits/cookies consumed in the past month
- Frequency of consuming packaged biscuits/cookies in the past month
- Key factors influencing biscuit/cookie purchases
- Health interests concerning indulgent food and drink products
- Key areas of interest in health-centric biscuit/cookie innovation
- Attitudes towards biscuits/cookies
- Three trends shaping the biscuits/cookies market in India
Flavour innovations and brand popularity drive purchase decisions. Better-for-you innovations can meet rising health-conscious and healthy ageing demands.
Tulsi Joshi, Senior Food & Drink Analyst, India
Market Definitions
Includes: sweet and savoury biscuits, including sandwich biscuits (cream biscuits), chocolate coated, wafers/waffles, gingerbread, crackers and assortments of biscuits. It also includes packaged cookies and assortments of cookies (ginger/multigrain/oats/protein).
Excludes: rusks, toasts, unpackaged/unwrapped biscuits/cookies, non-retail sales (ie those sold in cafes/made into other products such as desserts).
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Mintel recommends
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Overview
- Drive purchases with flavour innovations and by building brand popularity
- Innovate to offer mental wellness and weight loss benefits to health-conscious consumers
- Integrate the untapped demand for healthy ageing into future innovation strategies
- Mintel predicts
- The outlook for biscuits and cookies in India, 2024
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KEY TRENDS
- What you need to know
- Newstaglia drives marketing
- Indians seek nostalgia and novelty in food and drinks
- Nostalgia is in the past; ‘newstalgia’ is here
- Cred continues to leverage ‘newstalgia’
- Global food and drink brands are riding the ‘newstalgia’ wave
- Increasing healthful sentiments in indulgence
- Healthy snacking is a sustainable trend fuelling future growth, but…
- Graph 1: features that would encourage consumers to choose one packaged salty snack over the other, 2024
- …there is a conflicting desire for indulgence
- Indulgence rules in biscuits/cookies, but health is slowly seeping in
- Health claims are rising in biscuits/cookie launches in India
- Graph 2: % of launches with select category health claims in biscuits/cookies, 2022-24
- Graph 3: % of launches with select category claims in biscuits/cookies, 2022-24
- Biscuits/cookies brands are incorporating better-for-you innovations in indulgence
- Age Reframed
- Consumers around the world want to improve their health spans
- India’s growing ageing population needs health-promoting products
- Healthy ageing propels VMS consumption in India
- Graph 4: reasons for consuming vitamins, minerals and/or health supplements in the last six months, 2023
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WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- What you need to know
- Status quo: NPD activity in biscuits/cookies showcases upward trajectory in both sweet and savoury categories
- Graph 5: total share of launches in biscuits/cookies launches, 2021-24
- Graph 6: total share launches in biscuits/cookies, by sub-category, 2021-24
- Biscuit and cookie consumption
- Biscuits/cookies enjoy wide market reach, but daily consumption is limited to a niche
- Graph 7: frequency of biscuits/cookies consumption in the last month, 2024
- Graph 8: consumption of biscuits/cookies in the last month, by city tier, 2024
- Most popular types of biscuits/cookies: marie, glucose and salted crackers
- Graph 9: types of packaged biscuits/cookies consumed in the last month, 2024
- Repertoire-based consumer segments in biscuits/cookies
- Graph 10: repertoire of types of biscuits/cookies consumed in the last month, 2024
- The wider the repertoire, the greater the frequency
- Graph 11: frequency of biscuit/cookies consumption, by repertoire of types of biscuits/cookies, 2024
- Purchase drivers
- Drive purchases with flavour innovations and by building brand popularity
- While favourite flavours and brands remain key drivers of purchase decisions, consumers are increasingly drawn to exploring new flavours
- Graph 12: purchasing drivers in packaged biscuits/cookies, 2024
- Flavour drives consumption among metro dwellers; opportunity exists in classic-meets-new flavour combinations
- Graph 13: select purchase drivers in biscuits/cookies, by city tier, 2024
- Chocolate flavour dominates sweet biscuit launches; cumin, strawberry and pistachio are growing
- Graph 14: top 10 flavour launches in sweet biscuits/cookies, 2021-24
- Draw inspiration from global flavours to bring an exciting twist to chocolate
- Graph 15: % of chocolate combo launches in sweet biscuits/cookies, 2021-24
- Graph 16: % of chocolate combo launches in sweet biscuits/cookies, 2021-24
- Hazelnut is an established flavour with high growth momentum in India
- Appeal to chocoholics by elevating indulgence in chocolate with hazelnut
- Mintel Spark imagines chocolate-hazelnut cookies designed to elevate indulgence
- Watch out for cocoa/cacao in sweet biscuits/cookies
- Intensify the chocolate experience with cocoa/cacao
- Cumin and cheese emerge as the fastest-growing flavours in savoury biscuits, while plain savoury biscuit launches lead the market and continue to expand
- Graph 17: top 10 flavour launches in savoury biscuits/crackers , 2021-24
- Indian brands are buttering up cumin
- Add a savoury kick to cheese crackers
- Premiumise crackers with speciality cheese
- Brand popularity plays a significant role in shaping purchase decisions for biscuits and cookies
- Case-studies: take cues from Arnott’s and Oreo on prioritising product innovation to drive brand popularity
- Elevate indulgence with suggestive beverage pairings and cross-category flavour inspiration
- Explore seasonal and festive flavours
- Create fun and unique consumption rituals
- Make personalised offerings to be part of consumers’ life events
- Stay trendy and memorable with pop culture connections
- Explore beyond the bakery: venture into other indulgence-focused categories
- Sugar consciousness is increasingly influencing biscuit purchase decisions
- Target the crucial sugar-conscious cohort with low sugar/sugar-free marie biscuits and salted crackers
- Graph 18: select frequency of biscuits/cookies consumption in the last month, by select consumer segments, 2024
- Graph 19: select types of biscuits/cookies consumed in the last month, by select consumer segments, 2024
- White space opportunity for L/N/R sugar claims for sweet and savoury biscuits in India
- Graph 20: % of launches with select claims in biscuits/cookies, by sub-category, 2022-24
- Take the clean label route to appeal to sugar-conscious consumers
- Provide clean labels while introducing lower/sugar-free variants
- Health attributes
- A segment of Indians look for health offerings in indulgent food and drinks
- The broader the biscuit repertoire, the higher the likelihood of seeking healthier food and drink
- Graph 21: % of consumers who are interested in health in indulgent food and drinks ‘alll/most of the time’, by repertoire of types of biscuits/cookies, 2024
- Innovate to offer mental wellness and weight loss benefits to health-conscious consumers
- Stress relief and weight loss are the leading areas of interest in health-led biscuit/cookie innovations
- Graph 22: innovations of interest in trying in biscuits/cookies, by select segment, 2024
- Status quo: white space for stress relief, sleep aid and weight loss in biscuits/cookies
- Graph 23: % of launches with functional claims in biscuits./cookies, 2021-24
- Highlight mental wellness ingredients, but lead with fun and indulgence
- New launch alert: ashwagandha cookies are here
- Incorporate GABA for stress relief
- Cross-categories are leveraging GABA and ashwagandha for sleep aid benefits
- Mintel Spark creates an indulgence-led biscuit/cookie for aiding sleep
- Incorporate dark chocolate to promote stress relief and boost moods
- Slimming biscuits/cookies can appeal the most to Tier 1 city dwellers and working women
- Graph 24: % of respondents interested in select innovation in biscuits/cookies, by city tier and employment and gender, 2024
- Focus on fibre, protein and low carbs to provide weight loss benefits
- Cater to consumers’ demand for healthy ageing
- Healthy ageing is on consumers’ minds
- Opportune time to tap into this unmet demand among senior citizens
- Tailor innovations to meet the snack-time needs of senior citizens
- Prompt Gen X with nutrition and active lifestyle messaging
- Launch alert: ITC Right Shift unveils jaggery cookies for those aged 40+
- Take inspiration from supplements to target Gen X through messaging around active lifestyles and nutrition
- What’s next: innovate to address the unique health needs of diverse age groups
- Graph 25: % of respondents who agree to the select statement, by generation, 2024
- Mintel Spark creates biscuits/cookies for each generation
- Mintel spark creates biscuits/cookies for each generation
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APPENDIX
- Report definition
- Consumer survey methodology
- Repertoire analysis
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