From “The King of Peanut” into “The King of Snacks” in Indonesia through Garuda Crunchy Innovation”

PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya Tbk wins at the 2022 FMCG Asia Awards.

As a brand that started selling shell peanuts back in 1987, GARUDA has focused on innovating its fried and baked-coated peanut category ever since its start in the industry. Despite this focus on one niche in the market, FMCG Asia Awards accords GARUDA Crunchy as Indonesia Product Launch of The Year Award 2022.

The awards programme recognises companies and innovators that have brought success to their operations, GARUDA Crunchy’s launch and PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya Tbk’s consistent efforts to deliver good customer experiences have distinguished them from their competition.

Whilst consistent communication has helped the GARUDA brand gain national acknowledgement as an “Indonesia Heritage Nuts” brand, the company’s vision of leading a food and beverage (F&B) company with sustainable growth through innovation propelled them to position themselves back in 2020 as “a trusted companion” in their expansion to a broader snack category.

GARUDA Crunchy was marketed as a savoury snack brand with different flavours and shapes, becoming a new milestone for GARUDA to enter one of the biggest categories in snacks with their corporate tagline, “Leading in Innovation” and also to create a bridge towards transformation from “The King of Peanut” into “The King of Snacks in Indonesia”. 

The launch has enabled GARUDA to shift customer perception, transforming the brand from just peanut products to a wide range of snacks that suit every taste in the market.

For their initial offerings, GARUDA Crunchy was available in 2 variants, tornado-shaped potato-based and horn-shaped corn-based. At the end of 2022, GARUDA Crunchy will launch another unique shape, namely Potato Net.

According to data, the primary consumer demographics of GARUDA Crunchy are teenagers, filling a gap in their customer base where nuts category consumers are typically adults and another snack category targets kids consumers.

To gain brand exposure and awareness, GARUDA Crunchy employed a 360° marketing campaign with multiple consumer touchpoints, such as TV commercials, TV series product placements, and digital campaigns on platforms like TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram influencers, and also digital ads. These marketing initiatives introduced the product by emphasising its unique shape along with its signature way of eating.

In just two years, sales GARUDA Crunchy showed significant growth and gained more than 6% market share, becoming the 4th amongst 100 brands in the extruded snack category* (*research by Nielsen-Indonesia Retail Audit), and being the highest consumer penetration amongst snacks that have been launched within the last 24 months.**(**research by Kantar Worldpanel Mar’22).

With the success of GARUDA Crunchy, it has now become a growth driver within the brand to lead the snacking category, with the company’s roadmap pointing towards continued innovation to establish the brand at the top of the snack categories in Indonesia.

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About Garudafood (www.garudafood.com):

PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya Tbk (stock code: GOOD) is one of the largest food and beverage companies in Indonesia. Established in 1990, Garudafood's business activities have been initiated since 1979 by the company's founders through PT Tudung Putra Jaya (TPJ), a company in Pati, Central Java, that markets peanut products known as Garuda Peanut (Garuda Peanut). Currently, Garudafood produces and markets food and beverage products with six leading brands, namely Garuda, Gery, Chocolatos, Clevo, Prochiz, and TopChiz. The products consist of biscuits, nuts, pilus, pellet snacks, crisp, confectionery, milk drinks, cocoa powder, cheese, and salad dressings. Garudafood exports its products to more than 20 countries, focusing on ASEAN countries, China, and India.

Most of Garudafood's products are made in its own production facilities. Garudafood currently manages two production facilities in Pati, Central Java; one production facility in Gresik, East Java, one production facility in Rancaekek Industrial Estate, Sumedang, West Java, and one production facility in Cikarang, West Java. All Garudafood products have obtained Halal certification and ISO 22000: Food Safety Management System.

The FMCG Asia Awards is presented by Retail Asia Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2023 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's exceptional products or initiatives in the FMCG industry, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].