Candy maker Perfetti van Melle enters Indian savory snacks market

Fifteen years after he quit PepsiCo's Frito-Lay as brand manager in charge of potato chips and traditional namkeen, Sameer Suneja has the global beverages and snacks maker looking over its shoulder with caution.

Perfetti van Melle, the sugar confectionery firm he's heading, has just made a quiet entry into the booming packaged chips and snacks market.

That India is the first and only country in the world where the Euros 2,245 million Italian giant has moved beyond confectionery is just the tipping point. In fact, India is the only country whose proposal to move beyond sugar confectionery was accepted by Perfetti van Melle.

"We have doubled our business in the last three years, and packaged food and snacking is a high-potential market here. After understanding our approach, ideas and business plans, the (global) board was convinced," says Suneja.
 

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Perfetti van Melle savory snack brand "Stop Not"