
Grofers to Partner with Local Businesses for Delivery
Online grocery firm Grofersis partnering with local businesses for last mile delivery and this model will be used to deliver more than half its order volumes. The company gets average daily order volumes of around 35,000 per day. Gofers will enroll over 2,000 local businesses and store owners under this programme by this year-end. At present only16 percent of daily orders are being delivered by Grofers Service Partners which will be increased to 50 percent of overall orders by the end of 2018. Later the company will expand the model to all 13 of its operational markets.
Under the ‘Grofers Service Partners’ Programme (GSP), the company has already signed up with over 600 delivery partners in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata. The local businesses and store owners have been selected for this programme as they know their neighbourhoods and along with Gofers will be able to provide consumers with a better and more efficient last leg delivery. The programme will also create extra income opportunities for small business owners. Since e-commerce giants like Flipkart and Amazon India are pumping in funds to strengthen their position in the online grocery category, players like Grofers and BigBasket are offering a differential experience to its customers.
The ThickShake Factory Opens First Outlet in Mumbai
The ThickShake Factory, India’s first premium thick shake brand, is all set to open its first outlet in Bandra, Mumbai and it intends to expand its footprint to other places in Maharashtra. The company has brought in the concept of cold dessert beverage quick service business (QSB) for the first time in the country and currently has 90 outlets in 20 cities across India. The company is projected to cross the 200 marks by the end of 2019 and its long-term vision is to have over 1000 outlets Pan India.
The founders M. Yeshwanth Nag and Ashwin Mocherla were inspired by the global trend of sweet beverages and therefore brought to India the tastiest range of ‘Thick’ Shakes. ThickShake Factory will also be the official beverage partner for India Retail Forum this year. Through this platform, various business organizations will get a chance to collaborate with The ThickShake factory. The brand has been awarded with accolades like ‘The Times Nightlife-Best Beverages, 2015 & 2018’, ‘Coca-Cola Golden Spoon Awards 2018’, ‘IMAGES, Most Admired Start-up of the Year’, Best Shakes Parlour Award at ‘Indian Restaurant Awards 2018’ amongst others.
HUL Aims to Become Market Leader in Ice-creams and Frozen Desserts
HUL is aiming to be the market leader in the ice creams and frozen desserts category in the next few years and so will continue to invest in infrastructure and physical expansion. With the creation of more cold chain capabilities with the improvement in the availability of electricity in rural areas, the company is all set to propel expansion along with evolving food habits and rising discretionary incomes in Tier I & II cities. All these trends point to healthy growth and the Indian market is growing at 10-15 percent annually, and with the right inputs, it will continue growing at this pace.
Last month HUL had acquired the Karnataka-based ice cream brand Adityaa and will continue to search for such inorganic growth opportunities to expand its reach further. The company is bullish in this market and is willing to invest for growth and reach high growth double-digit volumes in the coming years. Since the segment is very competitive it will require significant capital to build production and cold chain capabilities before realising a profit and sustain that in the long run. Unilever, being the global leader in the ice creams and frozen desserts business with brands like Kwality Wall’s, Magnum and Cornetto. These brands cater to different price points some being premier brands, while regional brands like Adityaa fulfill the consumer demands of another section of consumers.
Mohali to get Spanish Vegetable Processing Facility
Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has stated that a Spanish company will set up a Rs.350 crore vegetable processing facility at Mohali in Punjab. This is likely to benefit around 5000 vegetable farmers in the state and would create around 500 jobs. The company would focus on potato processing which will open up a new market for farmers of Doaba region. Badal had visited the factory premises of food processing company Conelodos de Navarra in Spain and assured the promoters that her ministry will extend all possible support to it.
She also held a meeting with Carola Schouten, Minister for Agriculture in Amsterdam and discussed ways and means as to how Indian and Netherlands can cooperate in food processing. The minister said two Dutch investors were also set to invest in Punjab and the state would benefit immensely from Dutch investment and collaborations as they are the leaders in agriculture and food processing. She said her ministry had helped add value to farm produce, be it traditional crops like wheat and rice, milk products, honey, vegetables, fruits or agri produce like ‘haldi’. There are now three mega food parks in Punjab and the Food Processing Ministry has established 20 cold chains and four backward-forward linkages.
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