By Sangita Ghosh Progressive Grocer February 2009 Transformation in the most popular staple food in India is slow, but definitely on Rice, which has long held the reputation of being the food of the masses, is witnessing a silent transformation in India. Things have come a long way from the “touch and feel” approach to purchasing rice by the weight to the modern era in which the busy urban Indian consumer is beginning to place his or her trust in branded and packaged rice. This shift, though spearheaded by the premium varieties of rice, is gradually spreading to other varieties…
A recent discussion online on retailwire.com quoted a book "Jump the Curve" by Jack Uldrich, in which he describes rapidly growing trends that stay small for a long time and then suddenly explode. He uses the example of water lilies to illustrate the point about exponential growth. Say we start with one water lily and it multiplies to cover a pond completely within 30 days. On Day 20, only 0.01 per cent of the pond would be covered, and on day 25 it would be just over 3 per cent. The last days, hours, would show dramatic growth. The water lily…
Amazon was among the few US retailers last week to report any growth in the fourth quarter of 2008. There are, possibly, as many opinions about why Amazon has apparently bucked the recession as there are business analysts observing the sector. I've shopped on Amazon.com since the year they launched. Every experience has been completely satisfactory, some delightful. On some occasions Amazon has picked my pocket - made me spend on stuff that I wouldn't have bought otherwise, by their very helpful suggestions of what others had bought while they were browsing my selections. On other occasions it has saved…
I've just spent a few (grim) days at the National Retail Federation's conference in New York - the NRF Annual Big Show. (After all that grimness, I hope you'll pardon my play on words in the title!) However, the key message from several conversations is that this is an ideal time for the better companies to use this opportunity to take tough decisions, and to create change that is hard to push when the business is doing well. I think that is sound advice to not just get through these recessionary times, but also to pull far ahead of the…
Wednesday 14 January 2009 11:42 The exciting developments in India's dynamic, consumer-led retail sector and the export opportunities being created for British companies are the subjects of a conference to be staged by UK Trade & Investment's London International Trade Team on 27 January. Far from discouraging internationalisation, the economic downturn provides an incentive for UK firms to seek out and evaluate potential for export development, positioning themselves to take full advantage when growth returns. The half-day conference will provide retailers and representatives of associated service industries - including logistics, infrastructure, and supply chain management - with an overview…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
