Targeting TikTokers: India’s Beyond Snack builds on strong growth with ‘exotic flavours’ aimed at young consumers
The latest addition to Beyond Snack’s line-up is a crinkle-cut version of its banana chips called Banana Waves, which come in two flavours — Cheesy Jalapeno and Sriracha Delight.
According to Manas Madhu, founder of Beyond Snack, the objective of creating these “exotic flavour combinations” is to appeal to a wider audience, especially the younger generation.
“Banana chips are traditionally considered as an ethnic snack that lacks excitement. We wanted to present them a little differently and come out with more innovative flavours. Moreover, crinkle-cut provides a crunchier texture and can better retain the seasoning.
“The current TikTok generation is very experimental and adventurous about trying new things. Many brands have responded by introducing a variety of flavours, and we believe the same law of attraction would work for our products,” Madhu told FoodNavigator-Asia.
Prior to product development, the firm’s R&D team identifies its target consumers and draws inspiration from their expectations.
“We interact with our target group to understand what exactly are they looking for, what type of product or flavour would attract them, etc. Consumers may not necessarily accept any random flavour that you launch. Taste is the key aspect of any product and reason for success behind any flavour.
“Even for our earlier products, they were developed based on the customer’s perspective. With the launch of Banana Waves, we will continue taking feedback to find out if we are on the right path and if there’s anything that consumers want us to change.”
Although the firm has experimented with several other flavours, it decided to first roll out two of them to test consumer response.
“We wanted to see how the product fares in the market and whether consumers perceive it with the same excitement as what we have envisioned, before taking it pan-India and eventually globally. If these two flavours are successful, then we’d definitely be launching more flavours in the coming months.”
Growing prominence
Beyond Snack has not only expanded its product portfolio, but also its presence across India. It will “soon be available” in more than 33 cities across eight states.
“Our revenue has almost doubled since the beginning of the year, and we will likely be closing this financial year with nearly three times the revenue of the previous year. The banana chips category is evolving, and it is going to be a prominent category in the snacks sector,” said Madhu.
The firm attributes the significant growth to its successful marketing messaging as a “clean” and credible brand.
“One thing that plays to our advantage is that banana chips is not really new [to local consumers]. It just hadn’t evolved into an independent category previously, as it was part of a much bigger and more generic category known as ethnic snacks in India.
“What we are doing right now is to detach banana chips from the cluttered ethnic snacks market. People are already familiar with banana chips, so our messaging is simple — Beyond Snack is a trustable and tastier version of banana chips that meets all the hygiene standards. And the narrative is working out really well.”
The firm aims to be at the forefront of this rising category by maximising the potential of banana and reinventing the fruit snack in different ways.
“We are looking at new formats, new flavours, and even an entirely new subcategory. For the Banana Waves, we started work on it a long time ago and only recently finalised the product. R&D, along with the feedback loop, is a continuous and time-consuming process, but we are excited about a lot of things that are happening in our office,” Madhu shared.
