PVR, the largest and the most premium film exhibition company forays into the eCommerce segment with its F&B offerings making its first product, PVR PopMagic microwave popcorn, available on Amazon. To strengthen its F&B offerings beyond cinemas, PVR will partner with multiple other eCommerce players, making them accessible for all patrons from the comfort of their homes. The company has exclusively partnered with Celebrity Chef Sarah Todd to bring a curated range of microwave popcorn to its audience under the theme ‘World of Flavors’. PVR PopMagic is now available on Amazon in value-added packs of 3 at Rs 269 in each of the four flavors.
PVR PopMagic is launched in four popular flavors: Cinema Butter, Lightly Salted, Mexican Cheese, and Lemon Pepper. With this, PVR introduces its first FMCG product to go out of the cinemas and marks its foray into the eCommerce segment. The value-added packs will be available on the other eCommerce platforms shortly. In line with the company’s business objective, PVR will be expanding its F&B beyond cinemas in the coming months with diverse products suited for Indian audiences like premium gelatos, single-serve pour-over roasted coffee and health bars.
The consumer response for PopMagic has been extremely positive. The brand is focusing on innovating and expanding its F&B product portfolio to reach consumers beyond its cinemas by making them available on eCommerce platforms. The company also plans to introduce new flavors keeping regional preferences in mind to cater to a wider set of audiences.
Commenting on the occasion, Gautam Dutta, chief executive officer, PVR, said, “In our F&B space, popcorn is the fastest-selling staple food product, and its demand is maximum. During customer surveys, they expressed their concern about carrying their favorite popcorn home as the composition and packaging of the product did not allow the product as a takeaway. During the trial phase of 3 months, we sold more than 3 lakh units of PVR PopMagic from our cinemas and food delivering platforms serving customers in cities where our cinemas were located. Following this overwhelming response, we now want to make our F&B products available to a wider audience across the country and take the legacy of the PVR Popcorn ahead. Hence, we have partnered with other e-commerce players to maximize our reach. We are making our debut in the e-commerce space with four flavors of PVR PopMagic curated by the celebrity Chef Sarah Todd.”
He further added, ‘’To leverage the eCommerce space further, PVR will be introducing more products in the ‘Ready to Eat’ and ‘Do it Yourself’ category in the coming months, which are specially curated to suit the varied tastes and preferences of Indian audiences. We have a strong understanding of consumer choices in F&B and the eCommerce route will certainly help in expanding our reach of F&B to masses.”
The inspiration behind the theme ‘World of Flavors’ for PVR PopMagic stems from India's vast country, where people's tastes and preferences change every 20 km. While curating the four popular flavors, Sarah Todd, Celebrity Chef, said, “The Cinema Butter was a clear winner resembling the freshly made popcorn flavor at PVR cinema while the Indian spicy taste was retained for Lemon Pepper and the globally acclaimed popular flavor of Mexican Cheese. To suit the healthy eating habits of Gen X, the Lightly Salted flavor was developed which along with satisfying their hunger pangs in different times of the day also contributes to the health aspect”.
According to the company, PVR PopMagic is gluten-free and made with imported corn from the USA, with the best expansion rate and zero artificial ingredients being used in the making. The brand guarantees the highest quality of ingredients in the 100% whole grain popcorn that are sure to stand out for their impeccable taste and premium quality and deliver value for its money.
The popcorn market in India beyond cinemas is fairly nascent and PVR expects to develop relevance in the category and achieve meaningful scale.