Crunchy and tasty- 4700BC

Served in fancy packaging and available in several offbeat and wacky flavours, gourmet popcorn is here to be. Meet 4700BC, a brand that has been dishing out this snack (and more) to an ever-growing base of loyal customers for more than seven years now

Seven years ago, Chirag Gupta started ‘4700BC’ to fulfil his dream of introducing gourmet popcorn in India.

The brand has since garnered hard-core loyalists in the subcontinent. “Before we launched, snacks in India were majorly low-priced. There was a need for good-quality and slightly upmarket snacks. We started with popcorn since the segment had not been explored much in India, and now we have expanded to other snacks as well,” shares Gupta.

 Today, 4700BC has broadened its product lines beyond gourmet popcorn, to ready-to-cook popcorn (microwave and cooker variants), protein pops (fox nuts), sweet corn and corn chips. There are many more product launches in the pipeline. “At 4700BC, our vision has been to build a brand whose products consumers look forward to. Our faster growth is thanks to taking in the customer feedback regularly and their preference for us over other brands,” adds Gupta.

Innovation at the core

4700BC is built on three pillars: innovation (in
the product, packaging and marketing), taste (carefully selected favours that are the brand’s USP), and brand positioning. “We position our products with superior quality, international flavours and premium packaging, while also educating consumers that they can snack on our offerings wherever (not only in theatres) and whenever.

 This is the way we will continue to approach the market,” shares Gupta. And for the brand, the future looks promising. Snacking is increasing, and its growth is fuelled by more and more people consuming snacks to cope with their fast-paced lives or as meal replacements. “As incomes rise, consumers are moving on to more upmarket products and exploratory snacking.

All of this is leading to growth in the premium snacking segment. This will continue into the future, increasing the scope for us to get a larger share of the market,” conveys Gupta.

Today, 4700BC is a prominent player in its segment, but building the brand has not been a cakewalk. “As category creators, we have had to explain to consumers why our products were more expensive. We have had to inspire new consumption habits among people, such as having popcorn at home, in malls, on flights, and in hotels and bars. We have had to make our products available at all these locations to successfully create a category,” explains Gupta. The internal belief at 4700BC, he continues, is that they do not have to go for shortcuts and instead, have to have a longer vision.

 “It has been difficult to constantly hold on to that belief, but it was equally important for us as a brand,” shares Gupta. Moreover, 4700BC takes the top-down approach in terms of consumer tiers. It targets the A1 and A2 (upper-class) consumers, which is a challenge in itself. Also challenging are the spaces in which such consumers are present, for example, airlines. Despite this, 4700BC has gotten the highest recognition from brands such as Qatar Airways. “Also, there are many healthy snack options available to consumers today, so they are spoilt for choice. Hence, sticking to a product and bringing repeat consumers is challenging too,” adds Gupta.

Being customer ready

At 4700BC, the goal for the future is to establish 4700BC as a respected brand in the snacking segment and deliver better-quality products to consumers. “People should look at our brand as a household name for snacks. We also, perform customer profiling carefully to get a deep understanding of customers’ needs and behaviours, which gives us a competitive advantage in international markets in terms of product and price,” reveals Gupta. For this year though, the plan is to increase revenue through international expansion. “We are doing a lot of international exhibitions, in places including Germany, London and Dubai,” says Gupta. The brand also intends to raise another round of funding within the next three to six months. As Gupta says, patience is the key to building a brand, and he is building for the long term.