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Wai Wai noodles, the instant noodle brand, has grown by 2 percentage point to 28% in H1 2018 (January to June) in India.

Kapil Malhotra, Founder and Managing Director of the Total Solutions Group, said, "Wai Wai's market share gain can be ascribed to its growth in states like UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana in the north, West Bengal and Jharkhand in the east, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west and Karnataka and Kerala in the south."

G.P. Sah, Global Business Head of Nepal-based CG Foods, which popularized Wai Noodles in the Indian sub-continent, said, "Over the past five years, Wai Wai Noodles has become a popular brand in both the metros and tier-two cities. The brand is growing at 20% year-on-year. Our current turnover is more than Rs 880 crores."

"Wai has had a strong foothold in the North-East, Sikkim and North Bengal for the past 12 years and now has a significant presence in other states. We are now focusing in those states where we have less than 15 % market share," Sah added.

Parag Milk is eyeing 10% market share in Delhi-NCR from fresh milk segment in the financial year 2019. The company launched the fresh milk made from 100% cow's milk under the brand Gowardhan in Delhi-NCR region.

Devendra Shah, Chairman of Parag Milk Foods, said, "We are planning to expand our footprint in the Delhi and NCR region in the fresh milk category. We are targeting a 10 per cent market share in the region in the fresh milk segment in the next eight months (August-March)."

Along with Delhi NCR, the company also plans to reach out to the regions within 250-300 km radius of the Sonipat plant. The fresh milk business in the NCR region is worth approximately Rs 1,000 crore.

Shah further said, "North is one of the key priority markets for us. Dairy products consumption is the highest in this region and this expansion will allow us to allow cow's milk reach Delhi-NCR and neighbouring regions."

In the coming weeks, along with fresh milk production, the company will also manufacture products including flavoured milk, buttermilk, lassi, among others. Established in 1992, Parag Milk Foods is a private dairy FMCG company with pan-India presence.

Maggi, an  instant noodles brand by Nestle India has gained over 60 per cent market share in terms of value after facing legal battles and has almost touched the pre-crisis level, said a top company official. However, volume-wise Maggi is still away from the pre-crisis period, when Nestle used to dominate the market with 75 per cent market share.

"We are little over 60 per cent (market share). In business terms, we are almost back to where we were (in terms of pre-crisis). In value terms, we are almost back there," said Nestle India Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan.

He further said, "We still have some time to catch up that pre-crisis volume."

Maggi as of now contributes around one-third of the total sales of the company.

"Total contribution from the prepared foods (Maggi and Maggi franchise) is about 30 per cent," said Narayanan in a media roundtable here.

Nestle India had in 2017 crossed the Rs 10,000-crore sales mark.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had banned Maggi in June 2015 for five months for allegedly containing lead beyond permissible limits, forcing Nestle India to withdraw the product from the market.

After overcoming the legal battles, the popular noodles brand was back in the market in November 2015.

FMCG major Nestle India's market valuation has surged past Rs 1 lakh crore mark helped by a rally in its share price.

The company's market valuation stood at Rs 1,01,541.66 crore at close of trade on BSE today.

Shares of the company gained 3.14 per cent to end at Rs 10,531.65 on BSE. During the day, it surged 3.55 per cent to Rs 10,574 -- its 52-week high.

At NSE, shares of the company went up by 3 per cent to close at Rs 10,511.75.

Led by the gain in the stock, the company's market valuation rose by Rs 3,096.66 crore to Rs 1,01,541.66 crore on BSE.

Nestle has also become the third FMCG company after Hindustan Unilever and ITC to command a market valuation of more than Rs 1 lakh crore.

HUL's m-cap stood at Rs 3,64,470.22 crore and that of ITC was Rs 3,29,355.98 crore.

The stock of Nestle has gained over 34 per cent so far this year.

Danish brewer Carlsberg claims 30% by volume growth in Indian market due to lower base and increasing market share of its strong beer brand Tuborg.

"Our Indian volumes grew by more than 30% due to market share gains and also very easy comparable as Q1 last year was weak being impacted by the highway ban," Heine Dalsgaard, chief financial officer at Carlsberg said in a telephonic conversation.

Over the past two years, there have been policy changes in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to allow liquor sales only through government-owned corporations, similar to states such as Delhi, Rajasthan, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Supreme Court restrictions last year on the sale of alcohol near state and national highways led to the closure of about a third or about 30,000 of the country’s liquor vends, causing a drop in demand for beer and spirits. The court subsequently clarified its ruling, easing conditions for liquor sales and allowing many outlets to reopen.

However, Carlsberg, the world's third-largest brewer, said it doesn't expect any further disruptions. "In general, we don't see a further announcement of the regulations to come up but we see in tax issue in West Bengal so that probably there will be an increase in the excise," Cees ’t Hart, global chief executive officer, Carlsberg told analysts.

The brewer has about 18% market share in India backed by Carlsberg Elephant and Tuborg in a market skewed towards strong beer. Last year, it set up its eight breweries in the country.

In India, Tuborg accounts for more than two-thirds of the company's annual sales. The country is largely a whiskey and spirits dominated market and per capita consumption of beer in India is about 2 litres per person a year, which is little compared with the global average of about 30 litres. And strong beer segment accounts for about 80% of the market.

Packaged foods companies PepsiCo India and ITC are in market leadership race for Rs 23,000-crore salty snacks market which have come in the spotlight due to two competing companies.

The Rs 3,400-crore subset in question is ‘bridges’, where ITC’s Bingo Tedhe Medhe and Bingo Mad Angles compete with PepsiCo’s Kurkure. Bridges primarily consist of two formats — sticks and triangles. While most players in the category operate in sticks, the triangular format is pioneered by Mad Angles, inspired by the traditional Gujarati snack khakra. The four broad sub-segments of the salty snacks industry are Indian namkeens (Rs 9,500 crore), potato chips (Rs 5,500 crore), extruded (Rs 4,300 crore) and bridges. PepsiCo and ITC compete in almost all segments of salty snacks. Besides, they also compete in juices.

According to Nielsen data for February and March 2018 in the bridges segment, ITC Bingo, with a share of just over 30%, has overtaken PepsiCo’s Kurkure by a small margin. ITC has displayed consistency in being a leader in this subset for three months (January, February, and March) this year.

However, according to Nielsen’s moving annual total (MAT) data for March 2018, PepsiCo has a higher value share of about 31% as compared to ITC’s share of about 30%. MAT data is relied upon by the FMCG industry to get a picture of the rolling yearly sum. However, any event such as a change in leadership — no matter how minor — in a particular month indicates a turning point for a brand.

“ITC Bingo is today the market leader in the bridges segment. The category has become a lot more challenging with the expansion of various smaller and regional players. However, ITC Bingo has been steadily growing in the segment and has maintained a very high share vis-à-vis competition. Tedhe Medhe has been the growth driver for ITC in the bridges segment. The brand continues to grow in double digits every year,” ITC divisional CEO (foods) Hemant Malik said.

PepsiCo India, however, doubts the data related to the subset. “In our view, the understanding of the category is important. The bridges category appears outdated and does not hold relevance given the evolution of the snacks market and consumer preferences. PepsiCo looks at the broader extruded segment and so does Nielsen (that includes sub-categories like collet, puffs, triangle-shaped chips and others) where bridges are only a subset. Hence, it is not a like-to-like comparison,” said the PepsiCo India spokesperson.

In extruded snacks, PepsiCo India has a higher share of 26% (MAT data for March 2018), while ITC is at around 21%. The PepsiCo India spokesperson said considering that salty snacks are a very complex category — with multiple segments and sub-segments operating within it — different manufacturers and brands may assess their performance based on classifications best suited for them in the market. This is done by taking into account factors such as the presence of branded products in a segment, average selling price of segment or sub-segment.

PepsiCo India, which extended its portfolio with the launch of Kurkure Triangles, is the market leader in salty snacks, which is also the fastest growing category in overall snacks. “Our flagship brand Kurkure is growing at a healthy double-digit and we aim to double our volumes on the brand in the next five years on account of regionalisation and innovation,” the spokesperson added. ITC, on the other hand, has utilised its in-house culinary expertise of ITC hotels’ chefs to understand the needs of variety-seeking consumers in different geographies.

“ITC has a widespread distribution network that plays a critical role in ensuring product availability across the length and breadth of the country. Strong distribution growth is also a key driver for Tedhe Medhe’s business growth. In the last one year, ITC has added over 2.9 lakh retailers in the bridges segment,” said Malik.

The country’s leading dairy brand Amul has further strengthened its market leadership over the last one year by grabbing the shares of rival brands, Britannia and Go, in general, and modern trade.

While Amul’s all-India volume share in cheese rose to 71% during the period from March 2017 to February 2018 from 64% in the previous year, Britannia’s volume share shrunk to 17% from 20% and Go’s share declined to 6% from 10%, respectively, industry sources said quoting Nielsen data.

Usually, according to industry experts, it’s difficult for a leader with a large majority share to further shore up its position. However, what helped Amul grab share from its competitors is a major expansion that trebled its production capacity to 3,000 tonnes a month.

R S Sodhi, MD of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its dairy products under Amul, said after the expansion, the company became aggressive on the distribution and pricing front, especially to the HoReCa (hotels, restaurants, catering) segment.

Another factor that assisted Amul, which has a strong network of 5,000 distributors, is that it did not increase prices in the last two years. The strategy paid off in boosting volumes. GCMMF plans to further expand its capacity to around 5,000 tonnes a month in the next two years.

Britannia Industries said it does not subscribe to Nielsen’s market share data for the dairy category. “As far as the cheese category for Britannia goes, we have seen healthy double-digit growth in 2017-18 with modern trade contributing marginally higher than general trade to this growth. While cheese slices (which were pioneered in India by Britannia) continue to be the largest segment for the brand, the growth has been funneled by cheese blocks, cubes, and spreads,” said Venkat Shankar, VP and head of dairy business, Britannia Industries.

Devendra Shah, chairman of Parag Milk Foods, the maker of Go cheese, also said the company’s cheese business has been growing well. “As per our internal data, our cheese business has grown more than 20% CAGR in the last one year. Along with consumer business, we are also focusing on institutional sales and direct supply to QSRs. Almost half of the consumption of cheese comes from institutions. Going by the growing demand, we are increasing our capacity from 40 metric tonnes per day to 60 metric tonnes per day,” said Shah.

In round figure, Rs 2,000-crore cheese market in India is growing at 10-12% annually. Although cheese has always been an acquired taste in India, its consumption has been growing significantly driven by pizza chains and consumers adapting to new forms of cuisines.

During the year, general trade in cheese is said to have grown ahead of modern trade. While general trade grew 20%, modern trade’s growth was around 8%. In general trade, while Britannia grew by 1%, Amul is said to have clocked a growth rate of around 30% and has a market share of 86%. Go, on the other hand, declined significantly by 65%.

FMCG major ITC is expecting 10 to 12 per cent market share in the packed juices and fruit beverages segment by next year as the company bets on its not from concentrate' range of juices, said a top company official.

ITC would continue to add more flavours in B Natural's portfolio and plans to add 4-5 new variants in next few months. Besides, the Kolkata-headquartered company is also looking to tap the export market.

"We believe that we should get a double-digit market share of the juices by next year," said Hemant Malik, ITC Divisional Chief Executive, Foods Division.

ITC has around 7 per cent share in the juices and fruit beverages market, which is estimated to be around Rs 2,500 crore. The market is growing 13 to 14 per cent annually and is dominated by players like Pepsico's Tropicana and Dabur's Real, the company said.

"This will lead to sourcing of over 2.5 lakh tonnes of fresh fruits directly from Indian farmers annually instead of importing concentrates," said Malik.

He further added, “Globally, the trend is moving towards not-from-concentrate based juices, and in markets as the US, it is sold at 30 per cent premium. We have 13 products and now our entire range would be made not from concentrate and fruits sourced from the domestic market.”

It is also strengthening the distribution network of B Natural and would focus on small tier III markets, which have also started consuming packed juices, besides tier I & II places.

"We are using our distribution strength to expand availability across both rural and urban markets," he said.

Besides ITC has also started exporting B Natural to Middle East targeting the Indian diaspora and is looking at markets as US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The company has also come on the heel for branding and promotions of their business.

Domino’s Pizza has reported a higher profit third quarter net income amid ongoing pressure from strong foreign currency exchange rates.

The net income at the pizza chain rose to $37.8 million, or 67 cents per share, for the quarter ended Sept 6 and the revenue rose 8.5 per cent to $484.7 million, reported Reuters.

Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Domino's did not immediately say how much the strong US dollar weighed on quarterly results.

Domino's US sales at established company-owned restaurants were up 11.5 per cent for the quarter. International same-store sales rose 7.7 per cent, excluding the impact of changes in exchange rates.

The second-largest U.S. pizza chain by store count has been outperforming rivals such as Yum Brands Inc's Pizza Hut in the United States due to digital investments, which make it easier for customers to order pizzas using methods such as smart watches and digital wallets.

Yum Brands on Tuesday said Pizza Hut same-restaurant sales were flat in the United States in the latest quarter.