BANGLADESH – FMCG majors including Coca-Cola, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle and PepsiCo are among the companies taking immediate steps including sending out advisories to their employees in Bangladesh to stay indoors and not report to work at office.
“In the last few days, because of the disturbance in Bangladesh, we have shut our operations and our primary focus at this stage is to ensure security and safety of our people and our stakeholders,” Rohit Jawa, managing director of HUL, told ET.
“We hope the situation stabilises soon, because it’s a very important country for Unilever. As soon the situation normalises…we will be back in operation because like in HUL, we sell a whole lot of daily goods and essential needs in Bangladesh.”
A Coca-Cola India spokesperson also explained that the safety and security of the employees is of utmost importance and all employees are requested to exercise extreme caution and are presently working from home.
The worse situation in the country follows a severe heat in which exposed critical food security challenges, affecting everything from fruit production to paddy and poultry farming.
The heatwave has also increased labour costs across the agriculture sector, as many workers either avoid working in extreme heat or demand higher wages for doing so.
However, the country has also witnessed some investors getting interest into the food processing sector of the country.
Bangladesh-based Fargo Private Limited and Netherlands-based Saf Invest BV signed a joint venture agreement to invest in the country’s food processing industry.
Hamidul H Khan said the joint venture will conduct its operations in Bangladesh under the Fargo brand, with El Yan Saf joining the company’s board as a representative of Saf Invest.
Fargo Private Limited started a joint venture between Netherlands and Bangladesh to produce and market healthy food products.
The joint venture aimed at accelerating the process of ensuring quality healthy food products for consumers in Bangladesh by improving food production and processing technology, ensuring traceability and compliance.
“This joint venture will also enrich our food and agricultural export operations in Europe and the Middle East,” Hamidul H Khan, chairman and managing director of Fargo Private, and El Yan Saf, owner of Saf Invest.
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