Tag: India

Tata Coffee Q2 net profit rises 26.55% driven by value-added businesses

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INDIA – Tata Coffee’s value-added business has yet again delivered top-line growth for the business, pushing quarterly profits 25.55% higher during the quarter ending September 30th.  According to a BSE filing by Tata, net profit for the September quarter rose to Rs 53.66 crore (US$7.153m) up from the Rs 42.40 crore (US$5.65m) that was recorded in the previous quarter.   Tata has attributed the growth to improved performance in the value-added businesses which comprises of production and sale of roasted, ground, and instant coffee brands globally.  Tata Coffee’s Plantations Vertical…

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McDonald’s Indian franchise goes on a market share offensive, reveals plans to launch 200 stores in the next 5 years

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INDIA – Westlife Development, the owner and operator of McDonald’s restaurants in the west and south of India, is on a market expansion drive, revealing plans to add around 200 additional restaurants in its network within the next five years.   The company said it is planning to invest around Rs 800-1,000 crore in the opening of new stores and also in revamping existing stores with enhanced digital capabilities such as self-ordering kiosks and table services.  Westlife Development said the investment will strengthen its leadership position in the burger, chicken and beverage segments further and aid the growth of the…

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Mother Dairy to open 700 new locations in New Delhi by 2023, Cocoberry eyes 25 new yogurt outlets by end of the year

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INDIA – Mother Dairy, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), has announced plans to establish over 700 exclusive consumer touchpoints in the national capital by 2022-23 fiscal year.  According to the Indian dairy brand, the new touchpoints will mainly be in the form of kiosks and franchise shops and are part of its strategy to expand presence and boost sales.  Mother Dairy currently has 1,800 consumer touchpoints which offer the entire range of Mother Dairy products including products from Safal and Dhara under one roof.  “The company is working towards increasing this count to over 2,500 by FY22-23, further…

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Dairy.com expands into India with the acquisition of supply chain solutions supplier Mr.Milkman

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INDIA – America’s leading dairy technology, services, and intelligence provider, Dairy.com, has acquired Mr.Milkman to strengthen its integrated supply chain solution offerings for dairies worldwide.  Already used by over 60+ Indian dairy brands, Mr.Milkman enables dairy food product companies to efficiently manage multiple aspects of dairy distribution, supply chain, customer subscriptions and delivery requests.  “Our entire company is proud to be joining the talented Dairy.com team to accelerate the development of our last-mile delivery solution to meet the rising customer needs,”  said Mr.Milkman Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Samarth Setia.    “We also look forward to…

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Meat startup Licious becomes latest India unicorn after raising US$52m in latest funding round

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INDIA –  Licious, a direct-to-consumer fresh meat and seafood brand, is the latest Indian food startup to achieve the highly sought-after Unicorn status after raising US$52 million in a Series G funding round.  The round, led by IIFL’s Late Stage Tech Fund and Avendus, takes the company to a post-money valuation of US$1.05 billion, making it the latest entrant to the coveted unicorn club of companies having more than a billion dollars in valuation.  Lucious cofounder Vivek Gupta,  told reporters in an interview that the startup planned to use the recently acquired funds to…

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Alcohol shortage looms in India’s Delhi state as private liquor stores shut down

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INDIA – India’s national capital Delhi is facing a possible shortage of alcohol supply shortage after the 260 privately-run liquor shops closed down on September 30. Under its new excise policy, the Delhi government ordered the closure of private liquor stores and has allocated fresh licenses to private firms for 850 shops that will enter the retail business from November 17.  During the one and half month transition period, only government stores – which number about 460- will remain operational creating fears of alcohol shortage among residents.  Naresh Goel, president of…

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India competition commission fines UBL, Carlsberg for cartelisation of beer supply chain

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INDIA – The Competition Commission of India has imposed penalties totaling over Rs 873 crore (US$117.5m) on major brewing companies in the country for what it termed as cartelisation in the sale and supply of beer.  The list of companies that were found to be in contravention of the law include United Breweries Ltd, Carlsberg India, and SABMiller India Ltd, now renamed as Anheuser Busch InBev India Ltd (AB InBev).   All India Brewers’ Association (AIBA) was also found to be actively involved in facilitating such cartelisation.  Following the ruling, the CCI chose to give the three companies…

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Indian QSR operator Jubilant Foodworks acquires minority stake in nutrition company Wellversed

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INDIA – Jubilant Foodworks Ltd (JFL), a leading Indian quick service restaurants operator has acquired 25 per cent stake in Gurugram-based nutrition company Wellversed Health.  Wellversed Health offers a variety of food products that are customised for specific nutrition and dietary needs including gluten-free, keto, vegan, high-protein, diabetic conditions, and regular immunity.  According to a regulatory filing by JFL to the stock exchanges, the net revenue of Wellversed in fiscal 2019-20 was Rs 4.89 crore (US$663542).    Following the acquisition, Jubilant FoodWorks will have the right to nominate one non-retiring director to the board of Wellversed, and an observer…

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Nestlé India doubles down on women employment as Grofers works on building an inclusive work environment

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INDIA –   Nestlé India, a leading food manufacturer known for its Maggi noodles and Nescafe coffee brand, is increasing the number of its women employees as part of its gender diversity efforts.   According to company Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan, around 23 per cent of Nestle India’s workforce are women, a major improvement from only 16% in 2015.   “That is not the end, we would like to do much better than this. And in fact last year in 2020, 42 per cent of all the recruitment that we did within the company were…

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India to introduce ‘front of package label’ to help consumers make healthier food choices

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INDIA – The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has announced plans to introduce front-of-package (FoP) labeling on packaged foods to help consumers make healthier food choices.  The move by the Indian food regulator is in response to concern over increasing consumption of junk food leading to obesity in youth and children in India.  According to a recently published study, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in India has increased rapidly in recent decades and is projected to worsen during the forecast period ending 2040.   According to the PLoS study, the prevalence…

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