PepsiCo India is expanding its portfolio of potato chips snacks with the introduction of a new sub-brand under its flagship label Lay’s Shapez, featuring heart-shaped potato-based pellets.
The Lay’s Shapez Heartiez lineup features both masala and caramel flavors, marking Lay’s entry into the sweet-flavored chips market.
Saumya Rathor, Category Lead – Potato Chips, PepsiCo India, said, “As a category leader, we believe it’s important to keep bringing innovations in the snacking segment to meet evolving consumer needs.. This sub brand has been developed for the India market. As the snacking landscape evolves, there is a discernible trend toward a surge in demand for innovative, textured, and uniquely shaped snacks, and pellet-based offerings.”
According to industry estimates, the pellet snacks segment in India is valued at INR 1800 crore and is experiencing a year-on-year growth of 18 percent.
“Lay’s Shapez Heartiez has been launched in direct response to the growing need for fun, and crunchy snacks that go beyond traditional offerings in the rapidly expanding potato-based pellet chips market,” she added.
Rathor emphasized that the new sub-brand’s products are priced strategically at popular points of INR 5, INR 10, and INR 20 to encourage trial purchases and broaden the consumer base.
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In 2022, the snacks and beverage giant introduced Lay’s Gourmet, marking the brand’s debut in the kettle-chips market segment.
“We have seen strong traction for Lay’s Gourmet as we are continue to deepen its distribution in metros and mega cities,” Rathor added.
PepsiCo India has been increasingly introducing new products in the snacks category recently, spanning both the Lay’s and Kurkure brands.
This comes at a time when established snack brands are facing heightened competition from regional and local players.
Earlier this month, PepsiCo announced that its India business achieved mid-single-digit organic revenue growth for the full year of 2023. While the beverage unit experienced double-digit growth in volumes, the snacks segment encountered a “low-single-digit decline.”
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