CHICAGO — The chief executive officers of Mondelez International, Inc., and Lotus Bakeries Corp. described their recently announced partnership to market and sell Biscoff biscuits in India and develop innovative new products in Europe that feature the brand combined with such Mondelez brands as Cadbury and Milka as a win-win for both companies.

For Mondelez, the partnership gives it a strong brand to complement Oreo in India and grow its share of that country’s biscuit market. For Lotus Bakeries, the agreement gives it access to one of the world’s largest markets without having to invest in manufacturing and distribution.

“For us, our ambition is to become a global brand and if you are not a real brand in India, you can’t call yourself a global brand,” said Jan Boone, CEO of Lotus Bakeries.

Boone and Dirk Van de Put, CEO of Mondelez International, sat down with Food Business News to discuss the agreement the day it was announced on June 13.

“Biscoff is unique,” Van de Put said. “It has a very different taste and a great positioning with warm drinks. It’s something we don’t have anywhere in the world, and we want to get bigger in the biscuit market.

“We only have 3%, 4% market share (in India). This is just like Oreo was (in India). It’s something that is going to be really different in the Indian market.”

Boone added, “We are very excited about the agreements with Mondelez. We’ve seen the Mondelez team and what they have realized in such a short period of time. In 10 years, they’ve built the Oreo brand in India so it’s their No. 3 market behind the US and China.”

The United States is Biscoff’s No. 1 market followed by the United Kingdom and Bloom said he hopes India will one day be the brand’s No. 3 market.

“I'll be disappointed if 10 years from now it’s not the No. 3 biscuit in the Indian market,” Van de Put said.

In addition to chocolate, Mondelez manufactures and markets Oreo cookies and a biscuit for children that is sold under the Bournvita brand in India

“When we entered the biscuit market (in India), we decided to do it at a very moderated pace,” Van de Put said. “We have the infrastructure. We have the people who go to all these stores, but you have to have something that wins because if you take a brand, put it in three million stores and it fails, it’s not a good situation to be in.”

Today, Mondelez has sales of chocolate and cookies in India of approximately $2 billion, and the company employs almost 3,000.

Biscoff initially will be marketed in “high demand premium spaces,” according to the executives, which include more affluent urban areas.

“We’re not going to go to the rural areas where the consumer cannot afford it in the first stage,” Van de Put said. “But we will find ways to make it affordable, an offering that is still premium.”

The European part of the agreement will open doors for both companies to innovate around such well-known brands as Biscoff, Cadbury, Milka, Oreo and more. Van de Put described the evolution of the chocolate market as starting with tablets and then adding value to them with inclusions, flavors and fillings.

“During the last four or five years we’ve developed this segment that goes one step further and is a very indulgent type of chocolate,” he said.

The products in the category feature Milka or Cadbury chocolate combined with Oreo cookies in some fashion.

“If you do the same with Biscoff you get this unique combination of two different flavors that really go well together,” Van de Put said. “That segment is growing; it’s what we call the ‘premium tasting segment.’

“And, so, this would be different. It doesn’t overlap with Oreo, and it has a unique taste. Then after that we will come up with more differentiated products.”

Boone called the chocolate category “very competitive” and said several chocolate manufacturers had reached out about working with Lotus Bakeries.

“For us now, it’s ideal to have a global platform for our brands and have one company we can share our know-how to work together and build great products together,” he said. “You don’t want to do that with 10 different companies.

“On top of that, the brands Milka and Cadbury are a good match for Biscoff. They are the same type of products with the same consumers. I think it’s going to be a great success.”

The agreement between Mondelez International and Lotus Bakeries includes options to expand into additional markets or into other market segments.

“At this stage this is only about those two initiatives,” Van de Put said. “This is like dating; we’ll see how it goes.