Journey to ₹9,000 Cr dry fruit brand 🤯
How to make nuts a national brand?
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Onto today’s edition
Happilo makes ₹500 Cr revenue selling dry fruits & nuts. Their goal is to capture the ₹9,000 Cr dry fruits category monopoly. But, can you build a large business selling healthy snacks in India? we uncover it today 👇
64% Indian snack twice a day - country of chai & pakoras. Interestingly, most Indians want a healthier option to snack on - at least that's what they say.
So, what's stopping Indians from eating healthy?
This is a 3-layer problem.
Product discovery (impulse buy)
Pricing (value-driven purchase)
Positioning (no national brands)
Most don't find a snack when they want it in the offline world. Plus, most healthy options are extremely pricier - take PVR's 4700 BC Makhana, for example - costs 4X compared to an unhealthy alternative.
It's much bigger when it comes to dry fruits - a highly consumed snack for most Indians. But, can you tell me a dry fruit national brand in the comments? - It's hard to find. This is exactly what Happilo is trying to solve.
How is Happilo = national dry fruit brand?
First/ using the healthy narrative ❤️
The last time you bought almonds or raisins - do you remember the brand? Using The Whole Truth Foods playbook, Happilo wants to be the healthy version of "Haldiram". And it shows in their branding.
Second/ package it like a snack 🍰
This is an offline distribution play - how a product looks on a supermarket shelf matters. A packet of ‘Californian almonds’ & able to eat on the go is cooler than a transparent plastic cover filled with almonds. Next time you go to a supermarket, check out the Happilo packaging. Oh, and pricing is extremely competitive.
Third/ cracking modern trade 🛒
Britania sells 42 Crore packets every single month. This is >90% through modern trade (Dmart/Reliance Mall/ Star Bazaar) plus the local Kirana stores. Happilo is replicating this playbook by going into 1L stores.
Fourth/ high-consumption product wedge 🍟
Nuts, seeds & raisins might not have a daily frequency. This is where supplementing with high-frequency products like spreads, snack bars, and healthy biscuit variants comes into the Happilo product mix. Oh, and this is targeting larger FMCG players head on.
Fifth/ acquiring the most profitable customers 🤑
To beat Amazon, you don't have to acquire all of their customers. Just siphon off Amazon's most profitable customers (hard!), but that's the only vertical play you can do to beat Amazon in a specific category. No wonder - Happilo is trying to focus only on metro city customers.
What will make/break the deal? 🤔
Short answer - product aha moment. You see, healthy snacks aren't typically good for the taste is a common notion (slightly true). For anyone who needs to build a large healthy snack alternative, they need repeat customers. Repeat will ensure the brand keeps the shelf space and does not spiral down.
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