Ching's Secret is a popular Indian brand that Nestle SA, the largest FMCG company in the world by revenue and the parent company of Nestlé India, is interested in purchasing. The deal has the potential to alter the dynamics of the local market, though the company has not yet disclosed its plans.
According to insiders, the purchase offer that the global company made for Capital Foods, which owns the Ching's Secret brand, might earn up to $1 billion (more than Rs 8,000 crore). The brand, which was founded in 1995, has played a significant role in the development of the Indian version of Chinese in the nation's ready-to-cook (RTC) segment.
Although Nestle already owns the most popular instant noodle brand in the nation, Maggi, which accounts for over 60% of the Rs 5,000 crore branded instant noodle market in India, experts feel that Nestle's proposal to purchase Ching's has some merit. Given the rising popularity of "desi Chinese," Nestle has recently attempted to compete in a market controlled by Ching's with its own Maggi "fusion" instant noodle line. The Ching's portfolio may also aid Nestle in hastening the extension of the Maggi line into products other than instant noodles, such as Chinese sauces, masalas, and pastes. Overall, India's branded RTC market is predicted to be worth well over Rs 12,000 crore and is expanding at a double-digit rate.
Nestle has already made an effort to increase the variety of its masala and sauces over the past few years and has entered new product categories such as RTC pasta, poha, and upama, among others.
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