Tiger, a mass market brand in the glucose category, has grown to become an over Rs 150-crore brand for Britannia in terms of sales. The current leader in the glucose biscuits category is Parle Foods' `ParleG' brand with a market share of 55 per cent. Tiger has already garnered a market share of 20-25 per cent in two years, according to industry estimates.

According to Alagh, a major chunk in market share of Tiger will come from the rural market where the company is making a substantial investment in increasing the distribution network. ``Tiger will gain market share to become a leader in two years on the back of certain rural initiatives being undertaken,'' he said.

Britannia Industries is already on the mission to double its distribution network witha focus on the rural market. The distribution will increase to eight lakh retail outlets, with the rural network doubling during this time.

However, Britannia does not intend to ride on the pricing plank to beat the competition. ``We will not cut prices to increase sales. We will rely on the quality factor of our products to achieve that,'' said Alagh.Both Tiger and ParleG are priced at Rs 4 for a 100gm pack. Tiger was launched in July 1997. The brand was extended to Tiger Oro priced at Rs 9. The company has also introduced value-added variants of the brand priced at a slight price premium.

Britannia leads in the branded biscuits market with a share of around 38 per cent. Parle has a market share of 30 per cent in the branded market. The glucose category contributes 35 per cent to the overall biscuit market.

In the glucose category, however, Parle leads ahead of Britannia. Britannia's strategy with the launch of Tiger was to target this huge segment which has a major unorganised sector participation.Being a leader in the branded biscuits market, analysts say, that Britannia could not have ignored the glucose segment.

With a maximum contribution to its sales coming from biscuits, the company has reason to give priority to this category, say analysts. Biscuits contribute 72 per cent to Britannia's turnover of Rs 824 crore.

In the overall Rs 4,000-crore biscuits market (including the unorganised market), Britannia's share stands at around 14 per cent with that of Parle's at around 10 per cent.