Wrigley India Pvt Limited: Leveraging Trade Promotions for Competitive Advantage

The Indian confectionary market consisted of sugar and non-sugar confectionary items. The confectionary market was highly fragmented with several local players. The confectionary market had been growing at over 6% but the gum-based confectionary segment was growing faster at over 10% in last few years. The principal players in this segment were Perfetti, Wrigley, Lotte, Candico and a few local players.Wrigley acquired Joyco group from Spanish food conglomerate Agrolimen in 2004 in India. The deal further added to a long list of various brands available to Wrigley. Recently the company had been acquired by Mars. The acquired brand from Joyco, Boomer had been the undisputed leader in the bubble gum market in India since 1995. Orbit from Mars-Wrigley was also not only India's but the world's no. 1 sugar-free chewing gum.Mars-Wrigley India distributed its product both through organized retailers and traditional CFA-distributor-wholesaler-retailer route. 85% of food and beverage sales to consumers in India took place through traditional retail outlets such as Pan and Beedi shops, Kiryana merchants etc. Wrigley had an elaborate system of market coverage and distributors, salespeople and merchandisers performed an important role in the total system. Wrigley India spent heavily on marketing communication. Trade promotions played an important role in increasing the sales and market share and the company's sales force need to possess adequate skills in carrying out trade promotions and making it a success.