ASIA – The Kolkata based non-alcoholic beverages company, Tata Global Beverages (TGBL) has moved some of its global operations in regions such as India, the UK and US, Canada and Australia to its headquarters Kolkata, where the services will be managed.

According to Tata Group chairman, the company is focusing on its core businesses with plans to exit loss-making subsidiaries.

The move is expected to free the company’s business managers to concentrate on core activities, bring in agility and spur faster decision-making, as it seeks to become one of the largest FMCG companies in India with a possible merger with group firm Tata Chemicals.

The transition process is expected to be completed by the end of 2018-19.

“The transition will enable our business managers to wholly concentrate on core business activities, growth and expansion,” a TGBL spokesperson said.

During the company’s recent annual general meeting, the chairman noted that growth and scale in domestic market were critical and a key focus area in their business strategy.

Growth in international markets has suffered because of its marginal presence in many countries.

Profit dip and future plans

Tata Global Beverages posted a 6.55% fall in consolidated net profit in the April-June quarter after taking restructuring cost.

The company is undergoing an organisational restructuring and involves moving more activities to India in terms of back office and technology-related work, a market that contributes 45% to the company’s business.

TGBL is also looking at more opportunities in the health and wellness space and will be launching more products in this category, in addition to plans merge the group’s foods and beverages businesses.

“There are no final plans yet. Building a single consumer vertical is the biggest challenge compared to other verticals,” said an executive from the company.

“Tata Global Beverages’ ambitious growth plans require us to operate with greater efficiency, reduce our cost base and fully tap the potential synergies across our businesses that operating on a global scale can bring us.

There is also a significant opportunity to better leverage technology in service delivery.”