MM0084

Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories

through Continuous Innovation
“Quality, Honesty & Focus on Innovation and Technology to improve
manufacturing and hygiene capability and an intent to provide products at an
affordable rate have been the most crucial elements in us having such a nice
customer base.”1
– Indraneel Chitale, Partner, Chitale Group in 2016

INTRODUCTION

On Monday, July 27, 2020, Indraneel Chitale (Indraneel), a fourth-generation member of the
family that owned ‘Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale’, a popular Indian sweet and snacks brand in the
city of Pune in Maharashtra, India, and a partner at the company, was busy checking Chitale’s
Twitter handle in his office, when a customer’s tweet caught his attention. The tweet was from
Aditya Raje (Aditya), a Non-Resident Indian based in the UK. In the tweet, Aditya thanked the
company for making its popular salty snack ‘Chitale Bakarwadi2’ available in a country thousands
of miles away from his homeland. The tweet said: “It really makes (me) nostalgic and emotional
when we get it in UK”.3 As Indraneel came to the end of the heart-warming tweet, a smile lit up
his face and he felt a sense of pride in the brand that had started its journey 80 years earlier. He
once again realized the power of the brand Chitale and how its products had generated so many
sweet memories among its customers.
The history of Chitale dated back to 1939 when Bhaskar Ganesh Chitale, an entrepreneur,
started a milk distribution and retailing business in Bhilawadi in Maharashtra’s Sangli district. In
1950, his sons Raghunath and Rajabhau came to Pune and founded Chitale, a 500 square foot
sweet and savoury snack shop at Shani par Chowk on Bajirao Road in Pune city. In the next few
years, the second outlet was opened in the Deccan Gymkhana area in Pune. Over the years, the
brand’s presence was no longer restricted to Pune; its wide variety of products were available
through modern retail. As of 2020, the brand was still owned and governed by the fourth-
generation of the founder but it had corporatized the mithaiwale (translation: sweet
manufacturer) concept. In July 20204, it had 20 franchisee stores, and five Chitale Xpress stores

1
Clickchatchew, “A Chat with Pune’s Very Own Chitale Bandhu, Indraneel Chitale”, July 1, 2016,
www.clickchatchew.wordpress.com
2
A sweet and spicy snack popular in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
3
https://twitter.com/_AdityaRaje/status/1287754856598515715
4
Spotlight, “Uniting innovation with taste: Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale's iconic journey in the last 70
years”, July 06, 2020, www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This case study was written by Pritee Saxena and Arijit Bhattacharya, IBS Mumbai, under the direction of Sanjib Dutta, IBS
Hyderabad. It is intended to be used as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management
situation. The case was compiled from Published sources.
© 2021, IBSCDC.
No part of this publication may be copied, stored, transmitted, reproduced or distributed in any form or medium whatsoever without the permission of
the copyright owner.
 Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories through Continuous Innovation

in Pune. Chitale products were available pan India and in 5 continents. The estimated annual
turnover of the Chitale group for the FY2019-2020 was Rs 12 billion.5 The group was present in
different business verticals, as for example, dairy, sweets and snacks, instant-mix packaged
foods, bovine genetics, and information technology. The average business growth was 10 per
cent and it had a profit margin of 13-14 per cent.6
Over the years, the Chitale group diversified into various related and unrelated fields. Even though
the Indian sweets category was characterized by fierce competition, the company not only survived
but also thrived due to its single-minded focus on product quality, process automation, product
innovation, wide product range, supply chain management leading to faster store-level product
replenishments than market standards, and cash flow streamlining that eased up capital demands
across the sales channel. However, the Pune-based company faced challenges in the form of
intense competition from the big national and regional players in the organized sector and also
from the unorganized dairy segment.

INDIAN SWEETS AND SNACKS MARKET

As of January 2021, the Indian sweets and snacks retail segment was estimated at $1.5 billion and
was growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12 per cent7. The market was
highly unorganized and dominated by regional and local companies.8 The segment was dominated
by traditional sweet shops with a strong regional presence. Key players in this space were Bikaner,
Nathu’s Sweets, and Kaleva in the northern part of India; Ganguram and K.C. Das in eastern India;
and Sri Krishna and Anand Bhavan in the south. Haldiram’s had a prominent presence in the north
and west. Apart from these players, national brands like Amul and Britannia were also active in the
value-added dairy products segment. In the savory snacks category, the big players were ‘Lehar’
and ‘Kurkure’ from Pepsico, ‘Nutrichoice’ from Britannia, and ‘Bingo from ITC. The traditional
sweets category faced competition from cakes and confectionery, especially in big cities (Refer to
Exhibit I for details about competitors).
In the Indian sweets and snacks market, the customer’s definition of taste and product profile
varied significantly from one region to another. For example, the taste of moong Dal Halwa (a
dessert) varied significantly between northern India and southern India. In the north, it was cooked
with extra ghee (clarified butter) while in the south, the food was drier with less ghee. The
organized players in the industry took care to pay attention to such culinary nuances in order to
cater to a wider geography. Keeping this in mind, Chitale also experimented with different recipes
of the same product for different zones.

CHITALE GROUP’S DIFFERENT BUSINESS VERTICALS

The Chitale Group made a conscious decision to diversify into different verticals to focus better
on specific domains with different trajectories and nuances. However, on a ‘consumer facing
front’, Chitale group continued to have two brands – Chitale Dairy for liquid milk distribution
and Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale (Chitale). The latter operated 25 stores and 12 xpress franchisee
stores in the state of Maharashtra and distributed its products through a distribution channel of
more than 500 distributors. The synergistic effect of the dairy business helped Chitale become a
more well-rounded brand in terms of wider product offering vis-à-vis its competitors and also

5
Anishaa Kumar, “Chitale Group's success comes from a healthy mix of technology and tradition”,
October 12, 2020, www.outlookbusiness.com
6
Satyanarayan Iyer, “Pune’s Vendor of Sweets”, September 20, 2012, www.thehindubusinessline.com
7
Manish Agarwal, “How sweets offered in hygienic packs are revolutionising the packaged food
industry”, January 23, 2021, www.yourstory.com
8
Sapna Agarwal, “Streamlining the Sweet Shop”, April 12, 2013, www.livemint.com

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 Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories through Continuous Innovation

enabled its retailers, with limited shelf-space, to select the brands over its competitors. Chitale
Dairy had a capacity to handle 0.8 million liters of milk daily9 and processed about 0.65 million
liters of milk per day. Of this, 0.4-0.45 million liters were sold as liquid milk and the remaining
was converted into value added products like shrikhand (sweet made with yogurt and powdered
sugar and flavored with saffron and cardamom), paneer (Indian cottage cheese), khoa (milk
thickened by heating), buttermilk (a fermented dairy drink), flavored milk, milk powder, and
ghee (clarified butter).
The Chitale Group’s other businesses such as Chitale Agro focused on manufacturing ready-to-use
pulps, juices, and fruit concentrates while Chitale Foods catered to the instant mix products
market. Chitale Genus ABS (India) Pvt. Ltd. was a joint venture which focused on bovine
reproduction and genetics services. Chitale Digitals, the IT arm of the Chitale group, built the
backend IT infrastructure, policy, and services management for the Chitale Group. The entire
operations from ‘farm to fork’ were managed on the Chitale Digitals managed data centers. Chitale
Digitals not only improved decision making for the business group through the use of advanced
data analysis techniques like artificial intelligence and machine learning but also handled the
Chitale’s Group’s ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions, software, and back-end data
analysis. Apart from servicing the Chitale Group, Chitale Digitals also did its own business
development and had customers ranging from private companies to government contracts.

CHITALE BANDHU’S BUSINESS MODEL

Chitale’s production planning was complex as it was governed by the dates of the Hindu calendar 10
of festivals which changed every year. To ensure easy access to its products and the timely in-store
availability of its products during these year-round festive occasions, the company had a network
of Chitale-branded retail outlets – both company-owned and franchisee. Chitale’s sales were
generated by multiple sources: general trade or mom-and-pop stores, modern trade or
supermarkets and company owned or franchisee operated stores. Chitale, which opened its first
franchisee store in 1987, had 12 franchised outlets named Chitale Xpress in Pune and in other
places in Maharashtra. While choosing a franchisee partner, Chitale was careful to ensure that their
attitude and mindset matched with Chitale’s vision and mission.
According to the company, customers visited the company-owned outlets and franchisees not only
to purchase products but also for the brand experience. The Chitale-owned outlets and franchisee
stores offered a range of products and personalized service to educate the consumer on the
available product range, to create product awareness, and to engage the customer with the brand in
order to produce brand affinity.
The company had opened outlets in the departure lounges of Mumbai and Delhi airports and other
major cities. However, the airport retail channel was complicated as airport authorities charged the
company a very high fee for setting up an exclusive store at the airport. As a result, Chitale found
it difficult to break even. Hence, the company considered the airport retail presence more as a
marketing cost to increase the Chitale brand presence rather than a profit generating machine.
Chitale started to export its products in 2004 and in April 2020, the export vertical was
contributing around 25 per cent sales.11 The company exported its range of products to the US,
countries across the European Union and South East Asia, Australia, and Dubai. In the export
market, the company faced a challenge. Being an Indian ethnic product manufacturer, its product
demand in a foreign country was largely limited to the Indian diaspora settled there; Chitale’s

9
Yoshita Rao, "Did you know Pune’s Iconic Chitale Bandhu Exists due to a Pandemic?", April 8, 2021,
www.thebetterindia.com
10
A lunisolar calendar used in Indian subcontinent.
11
Shirish Kulkarni, “HATKE: Business Continuity: Indraneel Chitale”, April 29, 2020, www.youtube.com

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 Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories through Continuous Innovation

products had little or no appeal for the local population. In mature markets where the local
population was exposed to the Indian food palette and were willing to try the products, the
company worked on placements in local supermarket chains to improve visibility and appeal.
The contribution of Chitale’s online retail to overall revenue was not much as Indian customers
preferred to buy fresh sweets and snacks from stores as compared to ordering the packed ones
online. However, in 2020, the company took advantage of the online channel through its online
delivery service www.chitalebandhu.in. during the COVID-19 pandemic to reach its customers
and enhance its brand appeal. The company used advanced business analytics powered by
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Search Engine Optimization, and Ad Words and
targeted advertising to ensure the consumer actually converted his/her visit into an order.

PRODUCT INNOVATION

Chitale’s product portfolio had more than 60 different types of sweets and over 40 varieties of
salty snacks (Refer to Exhibit II). According to the company, the star drivers in its portfolio were
Bakarwadi, Shrikhand, Gulab Jamun (fried dough balls in sugar syrup), Mango Burfi (sweet made
with mango puree, cardamom, and pistachio), Kaju Katli (cashew fudge candy), Soan Papdi (cube-
shaped flaky sweet), Ghee (clarified butter), and Dahi (Curd). Ghee, Shrikhand, and Bakarwadi
were the top three products in the company’s portfolio. The popular bakarwadi snack was
introduced by the company in 1970 and although Chitale was doing well in the sweet sector then,
the introduction of bakarwadi increased its overall sales several times over. With increased
demand, bakarwadi production was made fully automated, which increased the sales of the
product. As of April 2021, Chitale was producing nearly 1000 kilograms of bakarwadi per hour
through three manufacturing lines12.
On the product front, the brand faced the dual challenge of dealing with big volumes as well as
personalizing the product for the customer. To balance the two, Chitale as a mid-premium price
player with affordable pricing, launched different product variants keeping in mind different
customer segments. To achieve the synergy between health-conscious customers and indulgence-
triggered customers, it launched lower-priced single-serve products and sweets for customers with
specific dietary requirements as for example, sugar-free sweets for diabetics, gluten free products
for health-conscious customers, ‘vegan’ products for customers with no tolerance for milk, and
sweets in the bar form for the modern youth with the ‘on the go’ lifestyle. It also manufactured
everything from ketchups and jams to healthier sweet versions of Goond Ladoos (sweet balls made
of wheat flour, edible gum, jaggery, ghee, almonds, and cashews) and Paushtik (multigrain)
ladoos, beverages, and other healthy products like cheese and paneer. The company also took
orders for giant custom-made sweets for special occasions as for example, a 12-foot laddu (a
sphere-shaped sweet) or lotus-embossed pedas (semi-soft sweet made from milk solid, sugar and
various flavorings). Such challenging orders were made possible by the robust manufacturing
process of the company which tried to seamlessly integrate mass production and niche production.
In 1991, after the economic liberalization of India, the company anticipated competition from
multinational companies and decided to expand its infrastructure and automated its manufacturing
process. The company especially focused on improving its packaging. Indraneel explained the
importance of packaging in the context of the company’s business: “The biggest transition that
happened was we started packaging whatever we were making. Till then the idea was to sell it
across the counter fresh so that the customer can see and buy. But the whole process of retail
underwent a big makeover. And in that process the idea of direct customer interaction vanished.
So how do you make your product more visible in markets where we cannot be present physically,

12
Yoshita Rao, "Did you know Pune’s Iconic Chitale Bandhu Exists due to a Pandemic?", April 8, 2021,
www.thebetterindia.com

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 Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories through Continuous Innovation

so that is the solution which was provided by packaging.”13 With the shrinking size of the urban
Indian nuclear family, which was a large segment for the company, Chitale fine tuned its
packaging strategy from big pack to single-serve with the focus on how its products could last
longer without using preservatives.

PROCESS AUTOMATION AND QUALITY MANAGEMENT

According to the company, the main factor contributing to the consumer’s preference for Chitale
products was the assurance of consistent quality that the products carried. Even during the
COVID-19 pandemic, the brand saw a surge in demand as it communicated and highlighted in
every purchase the firm’s emphasis on quality. This resonated well with customers and was the
prime factor for repeat customers. According to Indraneel, the company understood the strategic
link between automation and quality very early and invested in it. He commented, “We were the
first company in the 70s to import milk pouch packaging machines and the first to launch milk in
pouches. We always had the vision of having technology in place in our business. This is where the
focus on automation began in 90s and we are now on our third generation of ERP.”14
Nearly 80 percent of Chitale products were produced in an automated environment.15 For
bakarwadi production, the company had a fully automated manufacturing process in its Khed
Shivapur factory in Pune. The packaging division was automated too with separate sections for
domestic and for international exports. The export packaging was vacuum sealed so that the
durability of the product was more as compared to the ones available on shelf.
In 1985, the company introduced the computerized billing system it its stores, and also adopted the
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for billing and inventory control.16 It noticed that the long
wait in a billing queue was a major pain point for customers, and issued an RFID-enabled card to
each customer to store purchase details at different counters. At the billing and final check-out
counter, the details on the card were captured automatically, which reduced the billing time
significantly and enhanced customer satisfaction. Each Chitale store was capable of handling 4
customers per minute per counter. This process improvement related to the customer queue
management ensured that the customer was out of the store within 1 or 2 minutes and the costly
real estate space utilization was optimized.
In order to retain consistency in quality and hygiene, Chitale products were Hazard Analysis
Critical Control Point (HACCP) certified and were manufactured with a ‘minimal manual
intervention’ policy’. Using technology, the company increased the shelf-life of its products from
5-7 days to 30-40 days on an average, which helped it export without spoilage.17
In 2015, the company decided to scale up the production volume of its sweets business and
invested more in automating its manufacturing facilities. The move ensured no variation in quality
and standardization for a star product like bakarwadi and also chudas (a snack made from flattened
rice), pedas, mango barfis, katlis (fudge candy), and laddus (a sphere-shaped sweet).
As of 2020, Chitale’s entire production happened without touch. To avoid touch-point
contamination, the company created a contactless manufacturing process through state-of-the art
retina-based detection and face-detection technologies. The technology seamlessly monitored
13
Vidhi Choudhary, “Using tech for sweet and savoury success”, June 21, 2016, www.livemint.com
14
Vinita Bhatia, “Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale: Staying ahead of the curve”, November 23, 2018,
www.retailnetworks.in
15
Spotlight, “How Pune’s iconic Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale is practicing optimum hygiene and safety to
bring deliciousness to your doorsteps”, July 02, 2020, www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
16
Sapna Agarwal, “Streamlining the Sweet Shop”, April 12, 2013, www.livemint.com
17
Spotlight, “Uniting innovation with taste: Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale's iconic journey in the last 70
years”, July 06, 2020, www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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 Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories through Continuous Innovation

employee movement and performance inside its factories. Through the company’s ERP-enabled
order management system, every factory worker could be tracked for productivity. To incentivize
the workers, the company implemented a reward program.

BRAND COMMUNICATION

Chitale had not changed its original logo (Refer to Exhibit III) for many years as it enjoyed high
brand recall and trustworthiness among its customers. The logo was trademarked in 2012 18 and
consisted of the stylized writing of “Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale” in devanagari19 script with the
stylized drawing of a five-pointed star on a rectangular shaped label. The English translation of the
word “Bandhu” was brother while “Mithaiwale” referred to the sweet and confectionery
manufacturers and/or trader. The emotion-evoking word “Bandhu” in the brand name helped the
brand create an emotional bond with its target segments by projecting a ‘one-step-away-from-the-
home’ feeling. The brand deliberately avoided projecting itself as a corporate entity.
The marketing dynamics was quite different while selling Chitale products through the
supermarkets. Here, Chitale was often part of a bouquet of brands that the consumer purchased. In
order to create brand preference in favor of Chitale in the multi-brand environment of
supermarkets, Chitale focused on creating the kind of positive buying experience that the customer
used to get at its local store.
Chitale branded stores served a critical strategic communication objective as customers could see
the entire product range and interact with the brand. The retail storefronts, shelf-display, and
accompanying physical evidence emphasized creating a positive customer experience.
Such retail store brand recall by customers helped the company set foot in the modern-retail format
like supermarkets. Pune city, from where Chitale’s majority of revenue came, was a popular
education and Information Technology (IT) hub of India and attracted students and professionals
from India and overseas. Hence, the front-line staff of each Chitale store in Pune were specially
trained in soft skills to handle diverse language preferences and customer temperaments.
To engage with customers online, the brand was active on various social media platforms like
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube through emotional videos and witty remarks. It leveraged on
various occasions e.g., Independence Day, Ganapati festival, or Milk Day to promote the brand-
customer connect. The company showcased its automated and hygienic manufacturing process and
the best-selling products on social media platforms using the catchy tagline “Where happiness is
born!”. Chitale encouraged its customers from all around the world to share their favourite
nostalgic memories about the brand.
According to the company, a one size fits all policy would not work in a country as diverse as
India; the focus had to be on being locally competent. The company aimed to serve the local needs
in a hyperlocal manner. The brand planned to communicate in local languages to ensure the
customers felt that the brand was inclusive.

SUPPLY CHAINAND DISTRIBUTION

Milk, a critical component for Chitale’s sweets business, was produced by Chitale Dairy. For this,
Chitale Dairy has developed a network of 50,000 milk farmers with 200,000 cows and buffaloes.
The produced milk was used for retailing and also as the main raw material for Chitale’s sweets
and dairy products.20 The milk procurement through backward integration of the supply chain gave

18
“Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale - Trademark Details”, www.trademarks.justia.com (accessed 02.03.21)
19
An ancient left-to-right script of South-East Asia and the root of many Indian languages.
20
IANS, “Maha’s Chitale Group patriarch Kakasaheb Chitale dead”, February 8, 2020,
www.outlookindia.com

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 Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories through Continuous Innovation

the company better control over the manufacturing process and timely product supply to super
stockists. In 2010, the company implemented cloud computing technology to track the milk
production. Cloud computing tracked the livestock’s activities, dietary cycles, gynecological cycle,
and health cycle and gave farmers health updates and dietary recommendations for their animals.
All these initiatives ensured the animals remained healthy and gave a good output. The company
decided to control the quality of milk using technology to ensure the quality of the value-added
products downstream in the point-of sales.
Chitale’s dairy value-added products and snacks had different models for distribution and supply
chains. The first category needed a cold chain for supply and logistics. Hence, the replenishment
rate in the market, the stocking ability, and the customers’ mindset to buy a product nearing expiry
were much less favorable. To facilitate all these, for the value-added dairy products, the stockists
and distributors and even the retailers needed to have refrigerators. Usually, retailers with this
capacity fell under Category A or B. Under the A category, the retail outlets were more
formalized, bordering on supermarkets in feel. The stores were equipped with air conditioning, a
sophisticated racking system, and usually a self-service mechanism for product discovery. On the
other hand, the B category stores were a sophisticated version of the kirana (mom-and-pop stores).
They had infrastructure like refrigerators and display racks for a few products. But their majority
sales still happened across the counter with the customer demanding and the retailer servicing it.
Salty snacks, due to their longer shelf-life, had a much easier route to the market compared to
dairy products. As a result, the distribution channel, margins, and order quantities were vastly
different as storage emphasized product availability. Here, pricing, product visibility to the
customer, and the product display were crucial to ensure fast movement of the product.
In the downstream data-driven supply chain, the company tracked the movement of every product
in every Chitale store with respect to what products were being sold, product-wise frequency of
sales, and frequency of its replenishment. This helped the company to streamline its production
and marketing process. Using the market basket analysis, a technique of marketing analytics,
Chitale segregated fast- and slow-moving products and decided which one to push more and which
one had a consumer pull and needed less marketing effort.21

ROAD AHEAD FOR CHITALE BANDHU

In December 2020, Chitale was present in 300,000 stores across five Indian states. But, the brand had
even bigger plans for the future. It aimed to open 2 million stores across 12 states over the next 5
years to fulfil its national ambitions. In order to achieve its national presence, the company focused
on the basic strategy of reach and range. For reach, the company planned to enter markets with no
presence with its star products (bakarwadi, shrikhand, gulab jamun, kaju katli, ghee, gulab jamun
mix, mango burfi) as that would reduce the entry barrier. Once it had the requisite reach, Chitale
would start increasing the range. For this, a lot of emphasis was given on creating infrastructure: on
manufacturing to serve the scale demanded, on the supply chain to put the product into the market,
on research and development to create products which were more universal in appeal and not
products which would appeal to only people of Maharashtra and were also healthier than
conventional products. Chitale’s marketing and communication emphasized communicating the
values of the brand to the consumer. The brand communication was in Marathi and English and the
company was thinking of using more languages to appeal to pan-India customers.
The ambitious plan involved scaling up operations further using state-of-the-art technology,
expansion into uncharted geographical territories, creation of more innovative products keeping
pace with changing customer tastes and preferences, and generation of more value for all the
stakeholders. The farm-to-fork organization aspired to ensuring that both the farmer who was

21
Ibid.

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 Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories through Continuous Innovation

supplying milk to the company and the consumer who was eating its products got value from the
brand.22 However, in the near future and mid-term future, the company was going to face intense
competition from established players in the organized market and from unorganized dairy players.
Sitting in his office in Pune as the July evening settled in, Indraneel thought as drivers for further
growth, Chitale should focus on increasing the brand’s range and reach and also on strengthening
its appeal to customers. To discuss these issues, he decided to call a board meeting at the earliest.

Questions for Evaluation

1. What do you think is/are the biggest challenge(s) Indraneel faces at present in moving his
company forward?
2. What should Indraneel do to manage intense competition from both large companies in the
organized sector and numerous small businesses in the unorganized sector to ensure Chitale’s
future growth?
3. To make Chitale a formidable national player, which route should Indraneel take – should he
look inwards (i.e. addressing existing internal challenges) or look outwards (i.e. exploring new
growth opportunities)?

Note: You may conduct primary and/or secondary research to answer the three questions above.
Please cite your sources where applicable. Quality of your insights and the depth of your
recommendations for each question will be the basis of your evaluation.
***

22
The CEO’s Chair, “Inspirational moral story from Mr. Indraneel Chitale at The CEO’s Chair”,
December13, 2018, www.youtube.com

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 Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories through Continuous Innovation

Exhibit I:
Chitale Bandhu’s Competitors
Company Description Presence
Haldiram’s Indian sweets and snacks company based out of Delhi National
and Nagpur
Kaka Halwai Sweets Pune-based sweets shop Local
Green Snack Mumbai-based; focuses on tasty and healthy snacks Local
Bikano Sweets and salts snacks brand of Delhi-based National
Bikanervala Foods Pvt Ltd
Bhikharam Chandmal Rajasthan based; manufacturers of famous Bikaneri National
Bhujia (a salty snack) and other snacks
Balaji Wafers Rajkot, Gujarat based; famous for its potato chips and National
other snacks
Onyyx India Brand of Mumbai-based Aarihant Mithai and Namkeen; Local
manufactures sweets, salty snacks, bakery products,
chocolates etc. (local presence)
NatureBox California, US-based online delivery service specialized Online
in delivering all-natural wellness snacks to consumers on
a monthly basis
MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd. Bengaluru, India based. Specializes in manufacturing National
packaged snacks, beverages, breakfast mixes, and ready
to eat meals
Foodebaba Delhi based online sweets and bakery store Online
Source: Adapted fromhttps://www.owler.com/company/chitalebandhu

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 Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories through Continuous Innovation

Exhibit II:
Product Range of Chitale Bandhu
Product Categories Details
Milk Products  Paneer, Rose Flavored Milk, Processed Cheese Spread, Processed
Cheese, Keshar Flavoured Milk, Buffalo Ghee Pack, Full Cream
Shrikhand Keshar, Full Cream Shrikhand Amba, Cow Ghee
 Coffee Flavored Milk, Butterscotch Flavored Milk
Instant mix  Meduwada mix, Khaman mix, Idli mix, Gulab Jamum mix
Sweets  Dink Ladoo, Soan Papdi, Soan Papdi Royal Anjeer, Soan Papdi
Orange, Soan Papdi Mango, Sadha Pedha, Pista Kaju Katli, Pista
Burfi, Mango Burfi, Kesar Kaju Katli, Kaju Katli, Kaju Badam
Roll, Besan Ladoo, Badam Burfi, Soan Papdi Cranberry, Soan
Papdi Chatpata Mango, Soan Papdi Blueberry
Namkeen  Tomato Shev, Special Chivda, Shev, Shankarpali, Potato Chivda,
Patal Poha Chivada, Namkeen Mixture, Maka Chivada, Lite
Chivda, Khari Bundi, Dal Muth, Chana Dal, Bakarwadi, Zero
Number Shev, Murmure Poha Chivda, Mung Dal, Madal Shev
Pulp and Spreads  Mix Fruit Jam, Mango Jam, Tomato Ketchup, Alphonso Mango
Pulp
Source: www.chitalebandhu.in

Exhibit III:
Logo of Chitale Bandhu

Source: https://www.chitalebandhu.in/about-us

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 Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – Creating Sweet Memories through Continuous Innovation

Suggested Readings and References:

1. Chitale Group's Success Comes from a Healthy Mix of Technology and Tradition,
www.outlookbusiness.com, October 12, 2020.
2. How Pune’s Iconic Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale is Practicing Optimum Hygiene and
Safety to bring Deliciousness to your Doorsteps, www.timesof india.indiatimes.com,
July 02, 2020.
3. Uniting Innovation with Taste: Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale's Iconic Journey in the
Last 70 Years, www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, July 06, 2020.
4. Maha’s Chitale Group Patriarch Kakasaheb Chitale Dead, www.outlookindia.com.
5. Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale: Staying ahead of the Curve, www.retailnetworks.in,
November 23, 2018.
6. Pune’s Vendor of Sweets, www.thehindubusinessline.com, September 20, 2012.
7. How Sweets Offered in Hygienic Packs are Revolutionising the Packaged Food
Industry, www.yourstory.com, January 23, 2021.
8. Streamlining the Sweet Shop, www.livemint.com, April 12, 2013.
9. Using Tech for Sweet and Savoury Success, www.livemint.com, June 21, 2016.
10. HATKE: Business Continuity: Indraneel Chitale, www.youtube.com, April 29, 2020.
11. Inspirational Moral Story from Mr. Indraneel Chitale at the CEO’s Chair,
www.youtube.com, December13, 2018.
12. A Chat with Pune’s Very Own Chitale Bandhu, Indraneel Chitale, www.clickchat
chew.wordpress.com, July 1, 2016.
13. A savoury Tribute to ‘Bhausaheb’ Chitale, www.indianexpress.com, March 20, 2016.
14. How Spicy Maharashtrian Bakarwadis became a Popular Indian Tea-time Snack,
www.scroll.in, March 22, 2016.
15. Lotus ‘Pedhas’ — Pune’s Flavour of the Day, www.indianexpress.com, March 24, 2019.
16. Election D-day Gets an Innovative Twist, www.punemirror.indiatimes.com, March 23,
2019
17. Did you know Pune’s Iconic Chitale Bandhu Exists due to a Pandemic? www.thebetter
india.com, April 8, 2021.

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