Unibic has evolved from a cookies-led brand into a differentiated snacking company, expanding its portfolio while retaining its core promise of delicious indulgence at value. While cookies continue to anchor the business and deliver strong growth, the brand has steadily entered adjacent categories, including wafers, bakery-style biscuits, cakes, Indian sweets and namkeen. It has also strengthened its health-first assortment to address changing consumer preferences and emerging snacking occasions.
This portfolio expansion has enabled Unibic to tap into newer consumption opportunities while continuing to invest in its established strengths.
South India remains Unibic’s traditional stronghold, but the brand is increasingly expanding its footprint beyond its home market. The rise of quick commerce and modern trade has helped it leverage its brand presence across newer markets, with the NCR belt and East India emerging as particularly high-growth regions.
Alongside its core cookies business, Unibic is seeing encouraging traction in bakery biscuits, wafers and cakes, balancing investments across established and emerging categories. “Cookies remain at the core of our business, and it continues to deliver double-digit growth. That said, we also see very strong positive growth metrics in our bakery biscuit range as well as newer categories such as wafers and cakes. We balance our investments between the core category as well as growth brands as the nature of intervention is different for each space,” says Anshumman V Pandita, Senior VP – Sales, Unibic.
The Channel Mix
Unibic has positioned itself as a premium brand, with a presence across channels that cater to the premium consumer. “Accordingly, we had a first-mover advantage in Modern Trade and consequently now in e-commerce and quick commerce. So it’s a healthy, equitable mix of urban general trade, modern trade and quick commerce, with the latter growing disproportionately,” says Pandita.
“While our manufacturing is distributed, we supply our own proprietary recipes through a centralised blend house that is directly overseen by our head of product innovation and quality control,” he further adds.
Operational Strategy & Way Forward
For Unibic, the Indian consumer remains central to its product innovation strategy, with consumer preferences, regional tastes and emerging global trends shaping its roadmap. The company actively tracks international developments and evaluates their relevance for the Indian market, while also seeking to anticipate trends before they become mainstream.
This approach has led to early bets on emerging consumption themes, including health and regional flavours. Its Sugarfree range, launched in 2019, reflects its focus on health-conscious consumers, while its Indian bakery biscuit assortment addresses the enduring appeal of regional tastes. Looking ahead, Unibic has identified three key priorities for the next five years: continuous innovation to keep its portfolio relevant, refining its channel mix with a sharper focus on urban consumers, and entering adjacent categories where it can offer a differentiated proposition. “We will enter adjacent categories where we believe we have the right proposition for the same urban premium consumer,” concludes Pandita.
