2013 has been a mixed year for retail in the Indian market with multiple factors working in favour of and against the business prospects. Economic growth had slowed to 5% for 2012-13 (as per advance estimates by The Central Statistics Office, Government of India), down from 9.3% in 2011. The ray of hope is that the growth rate is expected to rebound to 6.8% in 2013-14. Spiralling inflation, with prices of some basic vegetables shooting up almost eight to ten times, distracted the consumers from discretionary spending. The year hardly saw irrational expansions by retail businesses as they primarily focused…
Anjana Pasricha, Voice of America New Delhi, February 14, 2014 In India, two newly elected state governments have rolled back decisions to allow the entry of foreign supermarkets. This is yet another blow to the country’s hopes of winning foreign investment in the retail sector, and could further shake global investor confidence in India. The decision by the northern Rajasthan state earlier this month to bar foreign direct investment by overseas retail chains such as Walmart followed a similar move by Delhi. New local governments took charge in both states in December -- led by the Bharatiya Janata Party in…
Arunima Mishra, Business Today Mumbai, February 11, 2014 When New York ice cream giant Haagen-Dazs entered China, it did not compete with other ice cream companies. Instead, it aligned itself with luxury brands. Kolkata-based Pabrai's Fresh & Naturelle Ice Creams is doing something similar. Instead of competing with rivals such as Amul and Kwality Walls, it positions itself as a relatively upscale brand. It supplies to five-star hotels such as the Marriott, Taj and ITC chains, and The Imperial in Delhi. It also supplies to high-end caterers in the national capital. Fresh & Naturelle's founder, Kunal Pabrai, is preparing to…
Sharleen D'Souza, Business Standard Mumbai, February 8, 2014 The economic offences wing of the city police on Friday attached a brand belonging to P D Agro, in the National Spot Exchange (NSEL) payment default case. P D Agro owes Rs 637 crore. It is the first occasion in which the EOW has taken such an action. It was done under the Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act. PD Agro, the third largest borrower from NSEL in the Rs 5,600-crore payments scam, owns Dunar Foods, a brand of rice which has a good name in northern India,…
Sagar Malviya & Rasul Bailay, The Economic Times Mumbai/New Delhi, February 4, 2013 With a rotten economy and an unemployment rate of 26%, Spain's brand image may be in tatters, but not that of one particular Spanish brand - Zara. In India, where some of the best-known international labels have met their Waterloo, Zara has proven to be adept at selling fine feathers to the fashion-conscious. The world's most popular 'fast fashion' brand, Zara's Indian unit Inditex Trent - a joint venture between the brand's owner Inditex with Tata Group's retail arm Trent - has made profits in two out…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
