
Snapshots of Food Industry News
Future launches premium gourmet chocolate brand Gruezi
Future Consumer Limited, the FMCG arm of Future Group, has launched Gruezi in partnership with Chocolat Frey AG, the Switzerland-based chocolate manufacturer. Gruezi is a premium brand of handpicked gourmet chocolates and the name is inspired by the Swiss word for hello. Gruezi is a pure Swiss chocolate that has a unique blend of flavors, crunch, and delicious soft-fills. Gruezi is crafted by a technique that has been mastered for over 200 years. For Future it is their first foray into the premium chocolate category and is being promoted as a perfect gourmet gifting brand fit for all occasions from festivals to expressing a ‘hello of joy’.
Future Consumer Limited will have on offer an initial range of a fine assortment of Swiss chocolates, available in two special packs. Gruezi Swiss Matterhorn Chocolates which is named after the mountain and are designed to look like the mountain as it is shaped like jagged peaks of velvety milk chocolate that sit around honey and almond nougat. On the other hand, Gruezi Assorted Centre Filled Chocolates will be available in four flavors – Triangolo, Mandolina, Caramelita, and Giandor. Both the packs are priced at Rs.450 per box, and can be purchased from Big Bazaar, Foodhall, Nilgiris and select Big Bazaar Gen Next outlets in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru.
Domino’s Pizza to invest Rs.100 crore in product up-gradation
Domino’s Pizza leads the pizza market, and with an across the board improvement of its pizzas, is eyeing new customers and more growth. Some of the pizzas are undergoing a change which includes a new soft and tasty crust, larger toppings with more cheese and a new tomato sauce with plenty of herbs and tomatoes imported from California. They are also giving a fresh new look to the packaging that will now come with an attractive blue and white shade. However, the most significant news is that despite all these changes, the prices will remain the same, as Domino’s just wish to add value for their customers.
Jubilant Food Works Limited that has the franchise for Domino’s has chalked out the strategy for sustainable growth. The key pillars that will drive Domino’s growth are product improvement, value for money, seamless customer experience, and superior technology, which will help cut costs and drive efficiencies. The company hopes that the product up-gradation will see more visits by existing customers and will attract newer ones. After their signature 30 minutes delivery promise and the launch of the Pizza Mania range this enhancement of Domino’s pizza range is their most significant move which has been carried out after customer feedback. Therefore, for their 360-degree marketing campaign, they have come up with the slogan ‘Aapne kaha, humne kiya’.
Tata’ food consumer companies may form a cluster
Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, and Star Bazar could come together as a cluster. Tata Chemicals’ consumer businesses include salt, pulses, and water purifier, while Tata Global Beverages sells tea, coffee, and packaged drinking water. Star Bazaar is Tata Group’s hypermarket chain. These companies have stepped up collaborations in the food consumer market and are exploring opportunities to work together as suggested by Tata Sons’ new chairman N. Chandrasekaran. Chandra, as he is called, would like to see Tata come together as a strong market leader rather than several small companies which are not able to achieve scale. His idea of ‘One Tata’ is already appealing to employees because of greater collaboration, working together and pooling resources could see them build scale.
Tata Chemicals is a diversified company but are strong in wholesale whereas the strength of Tata Global beverages lies in retail and the complementary skills could impact scale. Tata Chemicals is already working on some projects with Tata Global Beverages in nutrition and nourishment, pesticide-free tea and on coffee plantations. They had earlier collaborated with TCS and Titan to create Tata Swach, water purifier which sells fresh produce through Star Bazar. Coming together as ‘One Tata’ would satisfy customers and offer competition to others instead of among Tata companies. Tata Group might have built strong consumer brands but their consumer presence in low and they need to leverage these brands and large distribution network to enhance consumer presence.
The government has approved three proposals for FDI in food retail
Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha that the government has granted permission for 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) to three companies for the retail trading of food products manufactured and/or produced in India. The FDI proposals from Amazon Retail, Supermarket Grocery Supplies, and Grofers India have been accepted and approved. These are worth over Rs.3, 700 crores for the retail trading of food products. Amazon Retail has proposed an investment of Rs.3, 500 crores, Supermarket Grocery Supplies has planned investment of Rs.105 crore and Grofers India would invest over Rs.160 crore. On the other hand, there has been no decision to allow overseas food retailers to sell personal care and household items made locally.
Britannia to build its largest Rs.1,000 crore plant in Maharashtra
Biscuits major, Britannia Industries Ltd (BIL) is coming up with its largest plant ever in Ranjangaon in Maharashtra with an investment of Rs.1, 000 crores. The plant will be completed in the next two years and will have an annual capacity of 0.12 million tonnes. It will initially have six production lines for biscuits, and one line each for cakes and croissants. At a later date, other product lines like rusks, flour mill and dairy products may be incorporated. BIL has already acquired 96 acres for this project and have applied to the government for another 48 acres. The plant will enhance BIL’s annual production capacity to 1.22 million tonnes and will reduce outsourcing for manufacturing. BIL plans to manufacture 85 percent of the total dairy produce from this plant once it is commissioned especially as the integrated food park, at Pune and Ahmednagar produces the highest quantity of cow’s milk in the country and this can be easily fed to the Ranjangaon plant. The company will also be undertaking a feasibility study for the manufacture of specialized flour required for their upcoming cream-filled croissants range of products.
BIL aims to become a total food company and so they are targeting the launch of a new product each year and will enter a new geography each year. They have on the anvil a Rs.55 crore plant in Nepal for the current year and are also in the process of commissioning a Greenfield plant each in Assam and the Mundra Special Economic Zone. This year, the company has lined up a Rs.400 crore capital expenditure plan and has upped its cost-saving plan from the current Rs.140 crore per annum to Rs. 250 crore. After GST the company could increase prices of its products by 2-3 percent. BIL is planning to increase the share of direct distribution by adding 40,000 outlets this year which currently accounts for accounts for 16 percent. The company is considering consolidating its cream biscuits business this year as they consolidated other brands to merge with their 50:50 brand of salty biscuits earlier. The plan is to have one large brand in each of the five categories.
People and Placements
Kellogg appoints Mohit Anand new MD India and South Asia
Kellogg India has named Mohit Anand as the new managing director for their India and South Asia business and he will take over from Sangeeta Pendurkar, who has stepped down. The Cereal Maker said that Anand will also be a member of the Kellogg Asia Pacific leadership team. Anand was Global VP with Unilever and prior to that, he was with Proctor & Gamble. The breakfast and snacks market in India is evolving swiftly with dynamic consumption trends and entry of several players and Anand would work to ensure Kellogg’s presence in this market remains strong.
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