The product – which was designed for children and comes in four 3D animation shapes: a dolphin, a shark, a starfish and an octopus – are available only in the southern and western parts of the country.
According to Jagrut Kotecha, VP of PepsiCo India’s snacks division, the Cheetos Ocean Safari is a first in the puffed snacks category.
“We don’t want to put toys in our package, but a healthier product with less than 10% of recommended daily allowance of sodium and energy, driven from saturated fat for children,” he said.
He added Lay chips and KureKure snacks are generating revenue of more than Rs1,000 crores ($141m) each in India, while “Doritos chips and Cheetos are growing brands.”
Investments in salty snacks
The launch of Cheetos Ocean Safari is PepsiCo India’s first step towards doubling its salty snack sales in the next four years, according to Kotecha.
He said the company will continue investing in the category as the domestic market for salty snacks is worth Rs20,000 crores ($2.82bn) and growing between 10% and 12% year-over-year.
“We are growing at a higher pace than the salty snacks category. We will continue to post good double-digit growth,” added Kotecha.