Snapshots of food industry news this week
Nestle set to begin sales of Maggi noodles in November
Maggi Noodles are back in production and after tests are carried out on the new product sales are likely to begin in November. The ban ordered by FSSAI on Maggi because of excess lead and MSG found in some test samples saw Maggi destroying more than 400 million packets of noodles. It was only after the respite given by the Bombay High Court which revoked the ban and ordered re-testing that Maggi saw a ray of hope. After the test results cleared Maggi as a safe food it is all set to return to the shelves.
The ban on Maggi impacted the world’s largest packaged company negatively and the multi-national was forced to cut its global forecast for 2015. Maggi instant noodles had been giving Nestle India good returns since they were first introduced in 1983. The company had captured 80 percent share of the instant noodles market and the bright yellow packets were visible even in the remotest corners of the country.
Carl‘s Jr to serve Kingfisher Beer in its outlets in India
The latest move will see Carl’s Jr collaborating with United Breweries to sell Kingfisher beer in the Quick Service Restaurant’s New Delhi outlets. This is a strategic move to popularise a new beer and burger combo. Even though India’s QSR segment is valued at Rs.60 billion and is expected to grow by 26% each year almost none of the quick-service restaurants serve beer in their stores so they are hoping the move will see sales grow. Cricketer Yuvraj Singh is the brand ambassador for Carl’s Jr in India and he has invested in Carl’s Jr India franchisee Cybiz BrightStar Restaurants through his investment fund YouWeCan Ventures.
KFC outlets in the north zone to re-open soon
A number of KFC outlets in Chandigarh, few parts of Delhi, Mohali and Panchkula have not been operating for a while now. However, with new the new franchise partner, Sapphire Foods India Pvt Ltd taking over, these outlets are expected to open soon. Since 1994 the Delhi based A.N Traders Pvt Ltd was operating the outlets for KFC in the region. Sapphire Foods India Private Limited has recently acquired Dodsal Hospitality Private Limited from the Dubai-based Dodsal Group. The Dodsal Group has exclusive rights to operate Pizza Hut outlets in the south and west India. With this move to take over the franchise of the KFC outlets in the Northwest too, Sapphire Foods India Private Limited has become one of the largest owners of the Pizza Hut franchise in India.
Manpasand Beverages partner with Havmor Ice Cream for the retail tie-up
The Gujarat-based Manpasand Beverages and the ice cream and food retailing major, Havmor Ice Cream have entered into a retail tie-up. ‘Mango Sip’ Manpasand’s flagship mango-based brand and the just launched ‘Fruits Up’ brand will now be available in the 210 Havmor outlets in Gujarat, Mumbai, and Punjab. Both the companies are headquartered in Gujarat and the tie-up will help them make forays into the urban markets. This tie-up covers 164 outlets of Havmor in Gujarat, 28 outlets in Mumbai and 17 in Punjab. Through the tie-up, Manpasand Beverages will be able to give a push to ‘Fruits Up’ which consists of a range of carbonated fruit drinks.
Manpasand Beverages is present in 24 states and is available with more than 200,000 retailers and has 2000 distributors and 200 super stockists. The company has manufacturing facilities at Vadodara in Gujarat, one at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh a third at Dehradun in Uttarakhand and a new fourth one is being set up at Ambala in Haryana.
USDA: India’s dairy products export to remain at 30,000 tonnes in 2016
According to the US Department for Agriculture report that India’s non-fat dry milk dairy product exports are to remain flat at 30,000 tonnes in 2016 because of high domestic consumption and low export supplies. On the other hand, the high global supplies by other exporting countries keep international prices low and uncompetitive. The fresh milk output in the country could increase to154 million tonnes provided the monsoons are normal. Though the milk output could increase by 4.8 percent the domestic consumption of milk is forecast to rise by 5% to 62.75 million tonnes. The butter and ghee output is estimated to rise by 3 percent to 5.2 million tonnes in 2016 due to demands of a rising population growth.
USDA has reported that rising incomes, urbanization and other demographic shift in demands has seen the rise of value-added dairy products. Cooperatives and private sector dairies are producing more dairy such as milk powder, butter, ghee, paneer, flavored milk, ice cream, cheese, yogurt and milk-based sweet to meet these demands. India is the world’s largest milk producer and exports milk, casein, butter and dairy products to Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, the UAE, and Afghanistan.
Coca-Cola posts 4 percent volume growth in Q3
Beverage maker Coca-Cola India has shown a moderate recovery from the previous quarter with a volume growth of 4 percent in the quarter ended September 2015. It reported 2 percent growth of worldwide soda volumes and 6 percent growth in non-carbs. Organic revenue growth stood at 3 percent with the company showing growth in all regions except the Asia Pacific.
The company claimed that the Q3 results are as per expectations and was a reflection of its initiatives to restore momentum. Unseasonal rains in April to June quarter had slowed consumption of the thirst quencher leading to de-growth in the previous quarter. In the July to September quarter, it gained in global value share in beverages while juice and juice drinks showed higher value and volume share. However, profits fell because of currency fluctuations. The company feels it is going to face more challenges as the economic environment on the global scale is going through challenges of its own.
Marco’s Pizza aims for 400 stores across India in 5 years
With the opening of its first outlet in Vadodara the US-based pizza chain Marco’s Pizza has opened their India account. The company is headquartered in Ohio but has 650 stores in USA, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas which it is likely to expand to 700. The company hopes to set up 400 outlets in India in the coming five years. Besides India, Marco’s Pizza would like to open stores in UAE also.
The company has come into India through the franchise route and says that area territory and franchise are available to local entrepreneurs who wish to take advantage of being part of the USA based pizza chain. This will give a push to the local economy especially as the products are geared towards Indian consumers. The ingredients will also be sourced locally and the blended cheese will be manufactured here under the ‘Make in India’ model. Besides providing jobs locally India will also be the export hub if the company expands into neighboring countries.
Appointments
Sanjay Mishra appointed COO with Marico
FMCG firm Marico has appointed Sanjay Mishra as the company’s Chief Operating Officer for India Sales and for Bangladesh. Sanjay Mishra’s experience in the go-to-market (GTM) space and his sales capabilities is expected to boost the company’s agenda for India and Bangladesh. Since he has worked with Marico earlier also he would be able to add value to the organization. Prior to this in 2013, Mishra was with PepsiCo Asia, Middle East and North Africa (AMENA) as Senior Director – GTM and Sales Capability.
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