Cadbury is looking to build on its position in the Indian chocolate market with plans to transform the country into a regional centre for the production of cocoa.
By Ellie Duncan
The chocolate maker said India is a “strong growth market” with profit growth of 20 percent a year and sales growth at 30 percent annually.
The company added that it wanted to build on its strength by driving efficiency and sales gains in the market.
India imposes a 30 percent import duty on cocoa beans, forcing Cadbury to become self-sufficient in the region. It now hopes to source all of its beans for the Indian market domestically by 2015 rather than from traditional overseas markets like Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
President of Asia and Managing Director of Cadbury India, Anand Kripalu, said Cadbury believed it could “derisk” cocoa.
“Cadbury should be in a position to sustain the growth we have had in the last three years,” Kripalu added.