Whenever I am traveling to India, I ask my family if they need anything from US. Nowadays they say "We get everything in India, tell us what you don't get in US and we will get it for you". I say "Biscuits".
Somehow the biscuits are not at all popular in the US markets. Rather oreos, crackers and cookies are quite popular here. Few days ago I was talking to my fiance who is in India and she reminded me of some nice biscuits which I had during my time in India. Some of our favorites were Little Hearts, Jim Jam, Hide and Seek. Not only that Biscotti is said to have been a favourite of Christopher Columbus who discovered America!
I think one of the reasons why the biscuit segment is doing so well is because of companies like Parle. I remember Parle had only one product called the Parle G. But later as time passed by they made Monaco which was really something unique as this biscuit unlike others is quite light but still comes packed with lot of taste. By this time Britannia had bourbon which also gained popularity. But Britannia's product were little expensive. Parle too a stance and created few more products like krackjack but also tried to make a bourbon alternative which was a bit cheaper called the hide and seek. Hide and Seek gained a lot of popularity. Over the time there was a isle fully dedicated for biscuits only. They were available in all flavors, shapes and sizes. The creativity of making the biscuits and advertising them was at a peak.
Today Parle's market share in the biscuit segment might have have reduced to 42% but its because of this company that we find such a big variety of products.
