The company claims that the new product is a chip off the old block-but with fewer calories: a 50-gm pack of normal Uncle Chipps contains 240 calories, while the 50-gm pack of `Sun-Dried' will have only 30 calories, according to the company. The product will be launched in a 50 gm pack priced at Rs 15 -- which will be extended to a 100 gm pack if the product catches on.

``As the wafers are dried in the sun, the calorie value of the product is low. With this launch, we will be introducing a new trend in the market,'' says VC Beri, executive director, Uncle Chipps Ltd. According to the company, the sun-dried chips absorb less oil than normal chips, which bringsdown the net calorie content.

The company began test marketing the product three months ago, in the northern markets of Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. The chips will be targetted at the health-conscious and the USP of the product will stress that Sun-Dried is a ``tasty, low-calorie product''.

The ad-budget for the product is Rs 50 lakh and Contract Advertising will be handling the advertising, informs Beri. The ad-campaign will hit the media only in August 1999, ``as we want to supply the products to all the shops across the country first, before launching the ads,'' says Beri.

With this, the Rs 100-crore branded potato chips market is expected to witness a pitched battle between the two prime players: Pepsi Food's Lays and Uncle Chipps. ``Today we enjoy a 70 per cent market share of the total market. With the launch of the new product we will definitely add a few more crore to our kitty,'' claims Beri.

Currently, Uncle Chipps is available in seven flavour and five packs: 15 gms (price: Rs5); 30 gms (Rs 10); 50 gms (Rs 15); 200 gms (Rs 40); 400 gms (Rs 70).

In addition to Sun-Dried, Uncle Chipps is stepping up activity on other fronts too. The company has plans to launch value-added products in the Yumkeenz snack food range, at the rate of one almost every month. According to Beri, the new products will be flagged off with a promotional offer and will be sampled initially in 10,000 households across 24 towns. ``After this exercise, sampling will be done in Class B towns. We'll be revamping the packaging of our products too. Our budget for the new product launches is around Rs 10 crore,'' adds Beri.

Last month, to target its key audience--youth--the company had launched a movie carnival at Shiela theatre in New Delhi, from May 22 to June 13. ``Our Uncle Chipps mascot greeted ids at the ticket counter. It also gave away freetickets in exchange for an ad-cutting attached to two empty packs of Uncle Chipps. Before the show, we also organised games for the children,'' explainsBeri.

Currently, the company has two plants in Noida and Silvasa to manufacture its products. ``We plan to set up a new, sophisticated plant in the East shortly. And we will be introducing new regional flavours in the near future,'' adds Beri. Clearly, there's more food for thought on the way, for couch potatoes.