India’s a sweet story for Cadbury Bhanu Pande NEWDELHT scripted out of India. For chocolates, confec- tionery and beverage major Cadbury Sch- weppes, India has emerged as the biggest growth driver amongst emerging markets in Asia-Pacif- icregion. The confectionery major, which enjoys 70% market share in India, logged sales growth of 14% in ‘05. This has had a big impact on its overall regional showing last year. Company sources attribute it toa strong boun- ceback of Cadbury India’s chocolate business and admit that the ‘company has been firing on all cylinders.’ Last year, the company attempted to stretch the boundaries. It has been adventur- ous in unleashing a brand new category within chocolates in early ‘05 by launching Cadbury Bytes and introducing the concept of sweet snacking. The Indian subsidiary raised its mar- keting pitch last year with liberal use of celebri- ties in its advertising together with well-thought high spend brand promotion. The combination Iz YET another MNC success story being seemed to have worked well, with the company showing a record sales growth of over 30% in the past few months, say company sources. A strong showing in the region is also good _ news for the Indian sub- sidiary which just recov- ered from the worm controversy that plag- ued both its sales and brand almost three years ago. The negative publicity had stalled Cadbury In- dia’s plans of becoming a major sourcing hub for its UK-based parent Cadbury Schweppes. As part ofa global realignment of its supply chain man- agement, finishing touches were being given toa plan that would have seen Cadbury India emerge as a major supplier of chocolates to the Asia-Pa- cific region and the Middle East. This may get re- vived under the new MD Anand Kripalu armed with a good annual report this year.