Pritha Pahari, The Core 5 Aug 2026 Saurav, a 27-year-old resident of Navi Mumbai, has bought the same tub of whey protein for three years, same brand, same 1kg pack, same monthly ritual after his gym membership renews. Last month, at checkout, the price had jumped by nearly a thousand rupees. He assumed it was maybe a limited-time markup. But when he checked his order history, he noticed that the price had been going up for two to three months until it crossed a threshold that made him realise that whey protein has gradually become more expensive. India is the…
Sowmya Ramasubramanian, Vaeshnavi Kasthuril (MINT) Bengaluru, 13 July 2026 India's vertical quick-commerce startups across categories like baby care, medicines and fashion, backed by venture capital heavyweights, are beginning to redefine what “quick” means. For some, the race is no longer about cutting delivery times by a few more minutes. Instead, founders are increasingly talking about better assortment, sharper curation, stronger supply chains and healthier unit economics as the factors that will decide whether the model survives. Baby care platform Ozi, backed by Blume Ventures and RTP Global, has settled on a roughly 60-minute delivery promise. Founder Amit Sah told Mint…
Nivedita Mookerji, Business Standard 12 Jul 2026 Recently, fast moving consumer goods distributors posed some existential questions to the government: Have the rules changed for foreign-owned ecommerce firms? With that, the All India Consumer Products Distribution Federation made a plea to the government to examine if foreign-funded ecommerce and quick commerce players can run inventory-led businesses through warehouses and dark stores. The question mark is around the operating model of the big daddies of retail — both from America — under the current foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines. One of them is Bentonville-headquartered Walmart, which holds a controlling stake in…
Neethi Lisa Rojan & Vaeshnavi Kasthuril, MINT Mumbai/Bengaluru, 8 July 2026 The collapse of the US-Iran peace deal in less than a month has rattled India's consumer sector, reviving fears that higher oil prices and fresh supply-chain disruptions could squeeze demand just as companies were betting on a broader recovery. The renewed uncertainty followed US President Donald Trump's declaration on Wednesday that the peace deal with Iran was effectively over, alongside Washington's decision to end a sanctions waiver on Iranian energy supplies. The market reaction was swift. The Nifty FMCG Index fell 2.49% on Wednesday, underperforming the broader market as…
Vaeshnavi Kasthuril, MINT 30 June 2026, Mumbai Advent International-backed Modenik Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd is doubling down on its portfolio of legacy innerwear brands, planning to scale each label into a sizeable business rather than rely on a single flagship brand. "Each of the brands must grow big enough to be called a company of its own," Shekhar Tewari, chief executive and executive director, told Mint. The company has four brands: premium women's innerwear label Enamor, value brand Slimz, mass-premium men's label Dixcy Scott, and premium men's innerwear brand Levi's. "These brands are very strong in their respective segments. They complement…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
