VRB To Spend Around Rs 50 Cr On Wok Tok Within A Year: Viraj Bahl
As part of VRB's growth strategy, Wok Tok by Veeba eyes presence across seven categories with five brands by 2028
Wok Tok by Veeba is the latest kid on the block to VRB Consumer Products’ portfolio, bracing the parent brand to become one of the leading FMCG companies in the country. The company aims to invest approx. Rs. 50 crore within a year to back the newly launched brand. “The Wok Tok range is the result of our relentless pursuit to innovate delicious yet better-for-you offerings that we can feel good about serving to our families and yours,” advocates Viraj Bahl, VRB Consumer Products’ Founder & MD.
The new product line has a total of 16 SKUs, allowing the company to venture into the instant noodle category, along with a range of popular Chinese and Pan Asian sauces and dressings. The instant noodle market in India has experienced substantial growth over the past decade and continues to expand rapidly, crediting the evolving consumer preferences, changing lifestyles, and increasing urbanisation and the brand is capitalising on this very trend.
Bahl, who also happens to be a food technologist, has pivoted to this new direction keeping in mind the convenience, affordability and taste palate of the Indians. For him, Wok Tok not only promises a great taste and a healthy alternative to the other incumbent brands in the market but also serves to the incessantly increasing consumption of the instant noodles as a snack post-pandemic.
“The biggest opportunity we see is that there's a big, wide space for health-based products. Our intent is to make products that have zero maida, palm oil, or added MSG. The more consumers are getting high on wellness quotients, the more they demand products that do not contain negative ingredients,” he comments on the USP of the products.
Bahl claims that consumer expectations are primarily altering in Tier I cities, in contrast to Tier 2 cities, especially when it comes to their health bracket. “Tier I India is now almost as demanding as the Western world because we are being exposed to exactly the same health trends. Suddenly, everyone's become an expert on health. So, our entire intention is to give the consumer what they want. Our entire intention is to play on the wellness space. We are saying these are really tasty noodles, which happen to be healthy,” he shares as the broad premise of the new offering.
Giving a sense of the retail channels that Wok Tok will be prioritising, Bahl shares that 70 per cent of Veeba’s revenue comes from general trade, about 22 per cent comes from modern trade and the rest comes from ecommerce. “Noodle is an almost impulse purchase. Hence, we will be prioritising general trade simply because it is our core strength. This will be followed by ecommerce and then modern trade,” Bahl explains, adding that Veeba’s extensive distribution network will pillar the new product line’s reach.
The brand will begin with the first phase of the launch from the metros, primarily Mumbai and Delhi, and then penetrate deeper into the non-metro cities, he shares.
In terms of its communication, the brand will pin its focus on mothers and young adults. While Wok Tok is being rolled out under Veeba’s banner currently, it will eventually emerge as an entirely different brand and savor a separate marketing budget, accounting for nearly Rs 25-30 crores in the current financial year.
With all the excitement around, Bahl also admits that this is, perhaps, not the best time to launch a new product line, given that the retail shelves will be heavily swamped with festive gifting and hampers. “Ideally, this product line should have been launched two months ago. We should not have come around the festive launch,” he says.
However, in the long term, VRB aims to expand its presence across seven categories with five brands by 2028.
