Hershey's Launches Soy Milk Beverage Sofit In USA
Hershey's Launches Soy Milk Beverage Sofit In USA

Taking a cue from the sweet success of Sofit in India, Hershey's has introduced the brand in its home country.

Company also plans to launch Sofit, positioned in the snacking category in the US, in other countries. The US snacking market is worth $103 billion and PepsiCo commands a share of nearly 15%.

Hershey's, the second-largest player, has about 8%. The introduction of Sofit nutritional bars by the $7.4-billion Hershey highlights CEO Michele Buck’s plan to take the company beyond chocolates and make it an innovative snacking powerhouse.

Hershey's is the latest multinational consumer products company to launch an Indian brand in the Western market. In the past, Unilever (Fair & Lovely, Lakme, Bru, Kissan), PepsiCo (Kurkure) and Nestle (Maggi Masala), among others, have taken India-developed products, either in its original or modified form, to other global regions.

Hershey's hopes Sofit to work in North America (including Canada. About 85% of the sales come from North America. The remaining 15% comes from international markets.

Buck is betting on emerging economies like India, Brazil and Mexico to boost Hershey’s international revenues. The company, which entered India through a joint venture with Godrej from 2008-2012, will be investing $50 million to scale up its local operations. The plan is to focus on its premium offerings even as it looks to discontinue low margin products.

 “We are in the process of evolving our portfolio in India. We will not invest in commoditised and low-margin products (referring to acquired brands Jumpin and Nutrine). At the same time, we will evaluate launching some of our US brands in India” Shared Steven Schiller president-international, Hershey.

 
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