Business World,11 Dec 2010 Vishal Krishna Sundar Ramamoorthy, managing director of the Rs 36-crore Nitsun Garments in Tirupur, knows precisely how fast his “George” brand of T-shirts is moving in the five Bharti Walmart Best Price cash-and-carry stores and the 111 Bharti Easy Day stores on any given day. He only has to log on to Retail Link, Walmart’s proprietory software linking up vendors with its stores (and those of Bharti’s Easy Day stores) to find that out. As one of Bharti Walmart’s 2,000-odd approved suppliers, Ramamoorthy has been given his own log in id and password for Retail Link,…
This article is based on a presentation at the 2nd International Summit of Processed Food, Agribusiness and Beverages, organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) and supported by the Ministry of Food Processing, Government of India. The presentation was made to a mixed audience of retailers, manufacturers, farmers, government functionaries and service providers, and rather than provide answers, the objective was to raise questions that were not being discussed. The old saying goes: where there are issues, there are opportunities. By that standard, the perishable commodities supply chain offers plenty of issues and, hence, opportunities. Part of the problem,…
Economic Times, New Delhi, November 28, 2010 Ravi Teja Sharma Airtel is a fairly new brand and is prepared to go through the works. Also, Sunil Mittal still may not be listening to dissenting voices from the public. But why did Airtel decide to rebrand? Mohit Beotra, head of brand and media at Bharti Airtel explains: "We are at a significant stage of evolution at the moment. This brand is now going to be visible on two different continents. This will signal our readiness to change." He adds that the new logo, which has a lower case font in a…
Economic Times, Bangalore, November 3, 2010 Sarah Jacob Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Certainly for several packaged food companies , if not for everyone. Call it the breakfast war, the scramble to serve the first meal of the day is getting busier with companies such as Britannia, Marico, PepsiCo, Kellogg India and MTR Foods offering more and more options to meet Indian consumers' rising demand for quick-fix food. Britannia Industries, which already occupies share of the breakfast table with bread, butter and cheese, is making early moves in the ready-to-cook breakfast meals segment, an official said.…
BusinessWorld, 30 October 2010 Vishal Krishna Debt-laden Subhiksha’s hopes of resurrection seems to have reached a dead end. The retailer received a serious blow this week with the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court rejecting its merger proposition with Blue Green Constructions and Investment (BGCIL), a Madras Stock Exchange-listed company. A merger would have helped the combined entity list on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange and raise fresh capital. Subhiksha owes at least Rs 800 crore to its creditors, which include Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Venture and ICICI Bank. The court squashed Subhiksha’s appeal stating…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
