Private training aircraft makes forced landing in Karnataka; instructor and cadet safe

India Inc projects 7.4% growth; flags cyber, geopolitical and AI risks: FICCI-EY survey

India’s forex reserves hit fresh all-time high of $723.8 billion

PM Modi Malaysia Visit: From security cooperation to bilateral payment linkages - India, Malaysia sign 11 agreements 

2-nanometre Qualcomm chip launched; Ashwini Vaishnaw outlines ISM 2.0 vision

US trade deal strengthens India’s push for $250 billion engineering exports by 2030: EEPC

Bets Big on AI Boom: Samsung to begin mass production of World’s first 6th-gen HBM4 chips for Nvidia GPUs

India-US trade deal will not harm farmers, US cuts tariffs on Indian farm exports: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

India’s sovereign AI strategy delivering results, says Ashwini Vaishnaw as Sarvam AI model wins praise

Delhi AQI improves to ‘moderate’ as smog lingers, IMD predicts foggy conditions

Taking a cue from their counterparts in mobile handset and consumer electronics industry, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in India are warming up to the idea of taking the limited period, e-commerce exclusive approach to launch some of their products.

Aerated beverage players viz. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo had experimented with this strategy in some of the international markets four years ago. In fact, Coke Zero was a limited period online exclusive offering when introduced in India back in 2014.

Just last week, the branded packaged food division of diversified conglomerate ITC launched a limited period e-commerce exclusive noodle range in partnership with BigBasket.

Accordingly, the Yippee! My range noodles are being exclusively sold across the country on bigbasket.com for a period of one week and will be available across retail stores nationwide thereafter.

The go-to-market strategy of using an e-commerce platform, according to Hemant Malik, divisional chief executive - foods division, ITC Ltd, is an effective tool to strengthen the brand’s visibility and build consumer franchise.

“We believe a lot in the e-commerce space as it is growing over 120% for us in the last couple of years. It’s a very crucial part of our portfolio and this channel can deliver much more for certain categories. We will be frequently tapping this limited period e-commerce exclusive strategy going forward,” Malik said.

The one-off cases are set to become mainstream with online shopping for food and grocery items fast gaining acceptability among Indian consumers.

Players like Amazon and Flipkart joining the likes of BigBasket and Grofers has boosted the consumer confidence for online food and grocery shopping.

This coupled with a huge improvement in internet speeds, logistics infrastructure and road connectivity, presents a huge opportunity for FMCG firms to adopt this strategy for their new launches in coming years.

Abhishek Ahluwalia, head of e-commerce, Mondelez India, said advancements in technology are disrupting how consumers live, eat and shop thus fuelling explosive growth in e-commerce. “That’s why we’re building an industry-leading e-commerce snacks business, targeting at least $1 billion in revenue by 2020. To be the best snacking company in the world, we know we need to sell our brands whenever and wherever consumers shop. And our e-commerce platform will play a critical role in this ambition,” said Ahluwalia.

Alibaba-backed BigBasket is very optimistic about the possibilities of FMCG players like Hindustan Unilever, Britannia, Marico, Dabur, Emami etc. pursuing the limited period e-commerce exclusive product strategy. “I think so they will (pursue this strategy). That’s because they’ll see its success and hopefully we will be able to share numbers to back it up in terms of what’s really done well. In fact, we are constantly looking for opportunities to do this more frequently and definitely see this as a trend that’s soon going to be popular go-to-market strategy. And, since we meet all of them regularly, discussions on these lines are very likely to happen with FMCG companies,” said Menon.

Ahluwalia said that e-commerce business is one of the key growth drivers for the makers of Cadbury Dairy Milk, 5 Star, Bournvita, Lickables, etc. In fact, the company is now looking to accelerate gifting by expanding the assortment to access more occasions.

“Apart from launching our product innovations first exclusively on e-commerce, we have also rolled-out special packs only for e-commerce targeted at special occasions. Personalisation in gifting has been one of our key success drivers. We are enabling this by elevating the consumer experience beyond buying, through augmented reality. We rolled out an AR-enabled Amazon Exclusive Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Gift Box around Valentine’s Day and Diwali. We are now focusing our investments strategically on associations that help us develop best in class sales and distribution proficiencies with strong go-to-market capabilities,” said Ahluwalia.

The owner of Kisses, Jolly Rancher and Sofit brands, Hershey India doesn’t have an e-commerce exclusive offering as yet. However, Herjit S Bhalla, managing director, Hershey India, sees potential in this strategy going forward.

As the market opens up to this idea, he doesn’t rule out the possibilities of an e-commerce exclusive product from Hershey in the future.

This article was first published in DNA as '<a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-it-s-e-commerce-first-for-fmcg-firms-in-new-launches-2687057">It's e-commerce first for FMCG firms in new launches'</a>

Taking a cue from their counterparts in mobile handset and consumer electronics industry, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in India are warming up to the idea of taking the limited period, e-commerce exclusive approach to launch some of their products.


FMCG firms to launch new products with limited period offers on e-commerce portals

Mumbai: Sunfeast Yippee! has become a Rs 1,000 crore brand for the branded packaged food division of diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd. The second-largest selling instant noodles brand also commands over 22% market share in the overall market in India. With two significant milestones reached, the company management is now aggressively looking to grow the category, intensifying competition with market leader Maggi from Nestle India.

Hemant Malik, divisional chief executive - foods division, ITC Ltd, said the brand is less than eight years old in the market and has captured a significant share in the market. “It’s become a Rs 1,000 crore brand as reported by Nielsen India. When we got into the space, there was one very large competitor and it was very important for us to innovate and offer a differentiated product in the market. After seven-and-a-half years now, we have more than 22% market share led by innovations like round, long and non-sticky noodles sold along with vegetables in sachet,” he said.

This was followed by another innovation 18 months ago in the form of mood masala for consumers who’d want to have a bit less or more spice in the noodles, he said, adding the market share is higher at 37% in some of the markets in South India, he said.

Watch this Zee Business video here:

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jdRGxwTUO88" width="100%"></iframe>

ITC is also working on introducing a larger pacak in the market in the near future and back it up with creative above and below the line promotional activities to enhance its market share. To this effect, the company has introduced an all-new ‘My’ range noodles in four variants.

Adopting a unique go-to-market strategy, ITC has partnered with the food and grocery e-tailer bigbasket.com to sell noodles exclusively on the latter’s e-commerce platform. The digital world, including e-commerce platforms, Malik said, is an effective tool to strengthen the brand’s visibility and build consumer franchise. Accordingly, the Yippee! My range noodles are being exclusively sold across the country on bigbasket.com for a period of one week. Thereafter, it will be available across retail stores nationwide.

“We believe a lot in the e-commerce space as it is growing over 120% for us in the last couple of years. While it’s still not a very large part, but certainly a very crucial part of our portfolio as we find that for certain categories, this channel can deliver much more. Digital/ e-commerce is very important opportunity areas as it offers a huge amount of consumer insights and shopping behaviour data that can be used to further grow the market for our products as well as build our portfolio of products,” said Malik.

This article was first published in DNA Money: ITC's Sunfeast Yippee now turns Rs 1,000 crore brand

https://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-itc-s-sunfeast-yippee-now-turns-rs-1000-crore-brand-2686138&nbsp;Sunfeast Yippee! has become a Rs 1,000 crore brand for the branded packaged food division of diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd.


ITC’s Yippee noodles now  Rs.1,000 crore brand

Alibaba-backed BigBasket is looking to close the current fiscal with revenues of Rs 3,500 crore, said a top company executive. The online food and grocery retailer had clocked revenues of Rs 2,000 crore in fiscal 2018.

Hari Menon, co-founder and chief executive officer, BigBasket, said, the company has scaled significantly on the revenue side. “We closed with Rs 2,000 crore topline last fiscal and are expecting to grow to Rs 3,500 crore this fiscal. This actually puts us among the top five grocery retailers in the country. We have the ability to offer large FMCG companies, in terms of reach, deep market insights, digital analytics and so on. We are looking to build BigBasket into a really large business and grow the market while leading the competitive set,” said Menon.

The company is also planning to raise a fresh round of funds of up to $200 million. “It’s a little early to talk about, but we’ll do a fund raise in the next two-three months. It will be in the $150 million to $200 million range. We’d recently raised money so business is well capitalised. The new fund raise will be for a faster growth of some of our new businesses,” said Menon.

BigBasket is also looking to launch new sales channels in the near future to be able to better serve its target audience and build more stickiness with the food and grocery platform.

This story first appeared in DNA Money: <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-bigbasket-targets-rs-3500-cr-turnover-2686142">BigBasket targets Rs 3,500 cr turnover</a>

&nbsp;

BigBasket to raise funds of up to $200 mn after clocking Rs 2,000 cr revenue in current fiscal 

Sunfeast Yippee! has become a Rs 1,000 crore brand for the branded packaged food division of diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd.

The second-largest selling instant noodles brand also commands over 22% market share in the overall market in India. With two significant milestones reached, the company management is now aggressively looking to grow the category, intensifying competition with market leader Maggi from Nestle India.

Hemant Malik, divisional chief executive - foods division, ITC Ltd, said the brand is less than eight years old in the market and has captured a significant share in the market. “It’s become a Rs 1,000 crore brand as reported by Nielsen India. When we got into the space, there was one very large competitor and it was very important for us to innovate and offer a differentiated product in the market. After seven-and-a-half years now, we have more than 22% market share led by innovations like round, long and non-sticky noodles sold along with vegetables in sachet,” he said.

This was followed by another innovation 18 months ago in the form of mood masala for consumers who’d want to have a bit less or more spice in the noodles, he said, adding the market share is higher at 37% in some of the markets in South India, he said.

ITC is also working on introducing a larger pacak in the market in the near future and back it up with creative above and below the line promotional activities to enhance its market share. To this effect, the company has introduced an all-new ‘My’ range noodles in four variants.

Adopting a unique go-to-market strategy, ITC has partnered with the food and grocery e-tailer bigbasket.com to sell noodles exclusively on the latter’s e-commerce platform. The digital world, including e-commerce platforms, Malik said, is an effective tool to strengthen the brand’s visibility and build consumer franchise.&nbsp;

Accordingly, the Yippee! My range noodles are being exclusively sold across the country on bigbasket.com for a period of one week. Thereafter, it will be available across retail stores nationwide.

“We believe a lot in the e-commerce space as it is growing over 120% for us in the last couple of years. While it’s still not a very large part, but certainly a very crucial part of our portfolio as we find that for certain categories, this channel can deliver much more.&nbsp;

Digital/ e-commerce is very important opportunity areas as it offers a huge amount of consumer insights and shopping behaviour data that can be used to further grow the market for our products as well as build our portfolio of products,” said Malik.

This story first appeared in DNA Money:<a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-itc-s-sunfeast-yippee-now-turns-rs-1000-crore-brand-2686138"> </a><a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-itc-s-sunfeast-yippee-now-turns-rs-1000-crore-brand-2686138">ITC’s Sunfeast Yippee now turns Rs.1,000 crore brand</a>

&nbsp;

The second-largest selling instant noodles brand also commands over 22% market share in the overall market in India. With two significant milestones reached, the company management is now aggressively looking to grow the category, intensifying competition with market leader Maggi from Nestle India.


ITC’s Sunfeast Yippee commands over 22% market share in overall market in India

A bane for quick service restaurant (QSR) chain Domino's Pizza is a boon for McDonald's in India.

The operator of the global pizza chain in India, Jubilant FoodWorks, faces the heat of competitive intensity from third-party food delivery aggregators. But Westlife Development, which is a franchise partner for the burger giant, feels there is no threat to their business from the likes of Zomato, Swiggy, Foodpanda and Uber Eats.

Food delivery aggregator platforms have intensified marketing and promotional activities over the past couple of months. This has not only led to a shortage of delivery manpower but also an increase in the cost of delivery expenses, leading to cost pressures for Jubilant FoodWorks, which operates 1,167 Domino's Pizza (as on September 30, 2018) outlets across the country.

In response to the increased competitive intensity, Jubilant FoodWorks's management decided to pull out of all the third-party food delivery aggregator platforms after September 2018. When contacted, Jubilant Foodworks did not respond to DNA Money queries on the topic.

However, during a recent earnings call, the top company management said it has decided not to outsource delivery of its pizzas (to third-party food delivery aggregators). The reason behind this move was to take full control of the end-to-end pizza delivery experience for its customers.

"Accordingly, pizza delivery has been gradually moved in-house in the September quarter and has been reduced to nil in the current quarter starting from October," a senior executive had said during the call.

While the company claims it has pulled out of food delivery platforms, Zomato and Swiggy continue to show Domino's outlets in their search results.

Amit Jatia, vice-chairman, Westlife Development Ltd (WDL), has a contrary view. "We have not experienced anything (impact on operating cost due to increased competitive intensity) as such. See, they (Domino's Pizza) are a delivery business. It's like giving a core away, and I am only presuming, I have no idea. For us, delivery is a brand extension. It doesn't mean my experience should be bad or anything but it's not been an issue for us so far," the master franchisee for McDonald's QSR chain across West and South India said in response to DNA Money queries.

According to Jatia, McDonald's offers both dine-in as well as the delivery option to its customers. It also has its own mobile and web platform to take direct delivery orders in addition to a presence on all the major food delivery aggregator platforms. Besides, delivery is an additional revenue stream for the company that has witnessed significant growth over the past few quarters.

"We have our own platform. We are pushing that very hard. It's like we are in a mall. It's the destination in the mall which is making us work. We are saying there's no downside in not being there. For us finally, it's our brand."

"There could be thousands of consumers on the (third-party) platforms and there could be five more burger players. But people are coming to McDonald's because we have built that value. Why should I cut out the distributors? He has also got customers, so a customer is going to distributor's platform, so why should I lose that business is my take," Jatia added.

He said WDL has no concerns working with third-party food delivery aggregator platforms and the company has no plans on changing anything for now.

According to analysts tracking Jubilant's business, the company's margins are continuing to hold but the cost structure is also rising. In a recent note on Jubilant FoodWorks, Naveen Kulkarni, head of research, Reliance Securities, said Jubilant's earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation (Ebitda) grew 44.4% on-year to Rs 148 crore and Ebitda margins were at healthy 16.7%.

"While Ebitda growth was quite strong, certain key costs like employee expenses are rising fast because of competitive intensity. Employee expenses are likely to rise much faster with acceleration in store opening and higher wage inflation. Gross margins were quite strong at 74.6% as food inflation was benign. The management does not see challenges in managing gross margins but other expenses are likely to rise which will pose challenges to Ebitda margins," Kulkarni said in the company note.

HOT PLATE

Food delivery aggregator platforms have intensified marketing and promotional activities over the past couple of months.

Watch This Zee Business Video Here:&nbsp;

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iWu4SKaIHHg" width="100%"></iframe>

This has not only led to a shortage of delivery manpower but also an increase in the cost of delivery expenses, leading to cost pressures for Jubilant FoodWorks&nbsp; According to analysts tracking Jubilant's business, the company's margins are continuing to hold but the cost structure is also rising.

This story first appeared in DNA Money:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-mcdonald-s-clicks-on-delivery-apps-domino-s-deletes-them-2685801">McDonald's clicks on delivery apps, Domino's deletes them</a>

&nbsp;

Domino’s moves pizza delivery in-house; McDonald's&nbsp; operator sees apps bringing more revenues


Domino's Pizza is a boon for McDonald's in India

The chocolate market in India is pegged at over $100 million, as per Mondelez International, and the company enjoys a leadership position with over 66% market share in the segment. The company operates three of its global research, development and quality (RD&amp;Q) technical centres in the AMEA (Asia, Middle East and Africa) region. With an investment of $15 million, the recently opened centre in Thane, Maharashtra is its second such facility for chocolates and powder beverages and is expected to spruce innovation across the product categories going forward. Deepak Iyer, MD, Mondelez India Foods Pvt Ltd, in conversation with Ashish K Tiwari, talks about the company’s India business, competitive intensity, cost pressures, policy matters and so on.

&nbsp;

How crucial is the India business?

India is easily one of our fastest growing businesses across Mondelez International and our brands hold a special place in the heart of consumers here. In fact, we are the ones who got chocolates in the country and till today we continue to define the taste of chocolates for Indians. It’s heartening to see our portfolio comprising marquee brands lead by Cadbury Dairy Milk and its variants, Bournvita, 5 Star, Gems, Oreo and Tang among others command a special place in the overall consumption basket. In fact, the highest market share in chocolates that we have anywhere in the world is in India. Therefore, it becomes our responsibility to see how we lead the growth of this category as market leaders here.

&nbsp;

Tell us about some India-specific initiatives.

We have been forerunners in developing new platforms, new locations and addressing every need for our consumers. This has been possible because of our commitment to the consumers, deep understanding of their needs and creating products accordingly. We have launched new products in India the moment we saw a trend in terms of increase in consumption. Products like Fuse and Lickables are a few examples. If you look at the way we have done innovations across categories I think that has been hugely driven by the presence of an RD&amp;Q centre in the country. In fact, all of the India-specific initiatives started right at the Thane facility. And the new technical centre with 3D printing and other modern equipment/ machinery now really ups the game dramatically. India has always been an innovation hub for Mondelez in AMEA (Asia, Middle East and Africa) and globally, and this will only augment our ability to innovate even more.

&nbsp;

How soon will you launch sugar-free variants?

I can’t tell you that but you will be surprised.

&nbsp;

What has been the impact of cost pressures on the business? How are you dealing with it?

Historically, India has had inflationary pressures. The way we handle it is, some part of it is through pricing. However, due to a competitive market scenario, we cannot increase prices beyond a point. So a lion’s share will have to be absorbed by bringing in productivity. That’s where the new state-of-the-art RD&amp;Q centre in Thane will play a critical role. We have successfully done this in the past several years and believe there is a lot we can still do here. With new emerging technologies, there are better and more efficient ways to do this. Hence, our net productivity agenda is a whole parallel stream and if we can run that very aggressively, we can really do away with a lesser price hike, thus giving us a competitive advantage.

&nbsp;

Could there be some increase in prices?

So far&nbsp;this year, we haven’t taken any price increase and are managing it through productivity. We continuously evaluate the market scenario. In the future, if cost pressures arise, we will evaluate and take a call accordingly. In fact, a country like India where you have millions of people in emerging consuming class, the focus has to be on giving them value. We should be driving a volume-driven growth or a consumption-driven growth and not necessarily a pricing driven growth. So we have always been very passionate about that saying that beyond a point we won’t take up pricing. That one thing you need to watch is not overdoing the pricing growth. That’s because it starts eroding all others. We have been super conscious of this. Not just now but over the last many years and that’s the marketing framework we use.

&nbsp;

But price control also requires extensive value engineering.

We are certainly doing value engineering. It can be done in three to four ways. One is reformation. As technology evolves you will find better and newer products and better and more useful ingredient profiles at a lower cost. And that’s a great win-win sweet spot to do. The second is what you don’t like to do, but you have to do at some time, is some way of salami slicing. You have to reduce the bar a little bit such that you know it doesn’t go beyond a point where suddenly it is more air and nothing else than that. So you can’t go to that level. The Rs 1 candy is a great example of that approach. We were the only guys who took a bet saying we have to put out a Rs 2 candy. So we introduced one and called it Rich. Now we call it Gold. It is doing very well for us.

&nbsp;

Has competitive intensity made it more challenging to operate the business?

My sense is that competition is always good for any industry. At the end of the day, the consumer benefits. If the consumer benefits, s/he will consume more and in turn, the industry will benefit. So I think we always welcomed competition, especially since the mantle is on us as market leaders to grow the chocolate category. Instead of staying focused on market share, we have always been welcoming of players who will help come and grow the category because that is not very accredited to the whole industry and to the consumer. So we are very happy enrolling as many people who can come.

&nbsp;

How is the demand for your products in rural markets?

The rural markets are responding very well. Not just for us but for everyone. I think there was a slump in rural markets around 2015, 2016 when we experienced two bad monsoons, back to back. That’s not the case now. Secondly, the modified NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005) has given money back into the hands of rural consumers. Newer roadways are getting constructed. One look at Google Maps shows as compared to 10 years ago there has been a dramatic increase in the number of villages that now have a road. The government claims 100% electrification. Even if it is 98%, there is no harm because it wasn’t so five years ago. For products like ours, especially chocolates, if you don’t have electrification, how do you really deliver a good experience? You can own a refrigerator but what is its use if there is no electricity to chill it. So things like electrification, connected roadways, etc, have had a huge impact and resulted in a good rural growth for us.

&nbsp;

Any thoughts on the tariff barriers that are posing a challenge for businesses like yours?

It’s a very broad subject. You must also understand that we always have a network of factories. We will always have demand that fluctuates and supplies that can be augmented. Today I could be supplying to a country and tomorrow it could be catered to by some other facility. It’s a moving target and hence very difficult to say what we have. Similarly, trade barriers are also moving targets and a lot has been happening in the last one year and thereof. So we factor all of that into consideration, to see where the tax penalties are and where is it that I have the most optimal way to supply without getting the highest penalty. So it’s very tough to say country to country but as a network overall, we have a very accomplished and expert team working on, say, what should be the sourcing model.

Source: DNA Money

The chocolate market in India is pegged at over $100 million, as per Mondelez International, and the company enjoys a leadership position with over 66% market share in the segment.


Chocolate business in India: Mondelez International looks at volume-driven growth to remain market leader

Westlife Development Ltd (WDL) is planning to double the number of its Experience of the Future (EOTF) stores by March 2019.&nbsp;The master franchisee for McDonald’s quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain across West and South India currently has 10 such stores operational between Mumbai and Bengaluru.

The company had launched its first EOTF store at Nariman Point in Mumbai back in March 2017 and has been expanding it slowly.&nbsp;However, the management is planning to increase the pace of growing the number of EOTF stores going forward.

In an exclusive to DNA Money, Amit Jatia, vice-chairman of WDL, said that the EOTF store concept has been receiving good response from the market as a result of which the expansion is being planned.

“We feel that the EOTF store concept is resonating well with consumers. In fact, if you google McDonald’s Nariman Point you’ll find great review results. We are going aggressive on its expansion and will double the EOTF stores to 20 by the end of the current fiscal,” said Jatia, adding that expansion will happen by way of converting existing McDonald’s restaurants as well as launching new EOTF stores.

WDL will add new EOTF stores in key cities and will skip the Tier-II and -III locations for now. The company has recently renovated the McDonald’s outlet at Vile Parle in Mumbai and converted it into an EOTF store.

“It looks beautiful now. If Nariman Point store is EOTF, the one at Vile Parle is EOTF plus,” said Jatia, adding that the company plans to have at least 100 to 115 EOTF stores by 2020-22.

Also, while competitor Jubilant FoodWorks has cut down significantly on its Dunkin’ Donuts stores (it also serves burgers and coffee), Westlife is going aggressive on growing the McCafe outlets.

“We are already at 170 McCafe outlets. It will become 180-190 this year. While we don’t share specific numbers, our direction with McCafe’s broadly is at least 300 to 350 by 2020-22,” said Jatia.

The company’s plan is to have a McCafe at every McDonald’s restaurant. It currently has 287 McDonald’s outlets already and is heading towards 400 odd over the next couple of years.

“To give you a range rather than a specific number, we’ll have anywhere between 300 to 400 McCafe’s which means from 170, we’ll double that number as well. That’s a good Rs 80 to Rs 100 crore investment for McCafe alone,” said Jatia.

Last week, WDL reported topline growth at 32.3%, Rs 350 crore for September quarter of fiscal 2019. Same-store sales growth (SSG) was recorded at 25.7%.

“We grew our profit by 5.5-6 times. Cash flow was about Rs 28.8 crore and net profit was Rs 7.8 crore or so. Interestingly, cash flow increased 55% and we have delivered 70% of last year’s cash flow in the first half itself. Overall, everything has grown by 30-40% and we have done this consistently for the past 13-14 quarters,” said Jatia.

Source: DNA Money

Master franchisee for McDonald's to double Experience of the Future stores

The two-year-old start-up Clensta - derived from a combination of two words viz. ‘clean’ and ‘instantly’ - is a classic ‘Made In India’ venture that’s revolutionising personal hygiene without the use of water. The idea not only addresses the issue of hygiene but also helps save water, something the entire world is working towards.

An IIM Calcutta alumnus, Puneet Gupta, founder and chief executive officer, Clensta International Pvt Ltd, in conversation with Ashish K Tiwari, speaks about the unique waterless technology solution offered by the company, distribution in the business-to-business (b2b) space, addition of business-to-customer (b2c) vertical and future plans.

How did this idea really shape up?

I was in defence services earlier working on a few projects with them. During the tenure, I observed that our soldiers posted in Siachen-like areas had no option when it came to maintaining personal hygiene in such extreme weather conditions and difficult terrain.

My interactions with the various senior generals there was basically the starting point of creating a personal hygiene solution that didn’t require the use of water. Extensive work was done on changing the formulation, ingredients, concentration to make our product.

When applied/massaged on the body, our product absorbs all the molecules of dirt, oil, grease, etc., and can be easily wiped away using a towel. While water was earlier required to remove the molecules, that’s not the case with our solution. That’s how it becomes a waterless personal hygiene solution

What’s the current ownership structure?

Raising funds wasn’t easy in the initial stages as nobody was willing to invest at that time. So, when I proposed to IIT Delhi about what I wanted to do, they accepted it and gave me access to all the required infrastructure facilities, equipment and machinery worth $20 million.

Their support really helped in the research and formulation for this product. So the venture was incubated in IIT Delhi, which also funded the research. We also have Anurag S Rathore, chemical faculty at IIT Delhi as part of the core team. As for the intellectual property (IP)/ patent ownership is concerned, it is completely with by Clensta International.

IIT Delhi is a shareholder with minority equity of 5% in the company. The balance 95% is held between the company, myself and a few other investors including the Indian Angel Network (IAN) and IAN Fund that has made a recent, undisclosed investment in the company.

 
Is the solution a first of its kind globally?

There is no direct competition globally. So as such, it is a first of its kind in the world. Having said that, there are some similar products available but it’s more like a dry shampoo (akin to products by British hairdressing salon chain Toni &amp; Guy), which is also called waterless shampoo.

A cosmetic/ beautification product, it is targeted primarily at people (working women) who cannot wash their hair daily and are still required to well-maintain it.&nbsp; In our case though, the product offers a comprehensive hygiene wherein you can use it continuously for six months. That’s the key difference with our product technology.

Besides defence services, can this product be useful in other areas too?

Definitely. In fact, defence forces across the globe are already using our products. Additionally, there are various verticals like hospitals (in India and overseas), adventure enthusiasts/ camps, immigrants, etc., who have been targeted with this product and have found a great level of acceptability.

In fact, the commercialisation of this product only began in February 2018 as prior to that, we were primarily doing research (funded by IIT Delhi) and working on finalising the product/ solution for use. We still have a lot of ground to cover in terms of making it available to the end consumers.

How does it compare in terms of usage, pricing?

A person will most likely use 20-25 ml of waterless body bath solution and the same would be true for waterless shampoo too. So quantity-wise, our products are on the higher side compared to 10-15 ml for body wash and 5 ml for shampoo. On the pricing front though we have a much more attractive proposition compared to various reputed brands at Rs 499 including 18% goods and services tax (GST).

Watch this Zee Business video here:

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GU7nNRtnYF8" width="100%"></iframe>

One also needs to take into account the 250-odd litres of water getting saved through the use of our products. In fact, we have requested the government to consider the water saving aspect and bring us either in the 5% GST bracket or offer complete exemption from taxes. If that happens, pricing will reduce significantly making our products total value for money.

The two-year-old start-up Clensta - derived from a combination of two words viz. ‘clean’ and ‘instantly’ - is a classic ‘Made In India’ venture that’s revolutionising personal hygiene without the use of water.


This classic ‘Made In India’ venture is revolutionising personal hygiene without the use of water

Consumer financing seems to have emerged unscathed in the ongoing liquidity crisis in the non-banking finance sector. In this festive season, consumers looking to shop for durables and electronics are unlikely to face any NBFC financing challenges compared to their peers in the housing and automobile market.

Despite the fact that the overall market sentiments may be a bit low, leading non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) in the consumer financing space such as Tata Capital, Bajaj Finserv and Capital First are expected to do brisk business this shopping season.

Vivek Chopra, chief product officer, Tata Capital Financial Services, said that retail- and consumer-driven financing is witnessing good traction. "The response is very encouraging over the past few weeks, and we are seeing a good enough buying trend in consumer durables as well as used car space especially post Navratri," he said, adding that on an overall basis Tata Capital has been significantly growing its retail business this year compared to the previous year.

Raising funds hasn't been an area of concern either as NBFCs continue to raise money through various sources including banks, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and commercial papers (CPs). Tata Capital successfully raised roughly Rs 3,500 crore via NCDs in September 2018.

The consumer/retail financing space hasn't got impacted the way realty or residential housing lending space has, owing to various reasons. Small-ticket size and well-capitalised market players were a few factors driving lending in this segment, experts said.

"When it comes to higher ticket size products such as business loans on the unsecured side or loans against property, there were some niche players operating in this space. So players like DHFL, India Infoline, Edelweiss, Indiabulls, Shriram City Union Finance have gone slow, withdrawn from the market for a short term, have done a lot of tightening and are lending very selectively. On the consumer financing side, Fullerton has slowed down significantly even for smaller ticket size lending as well as personal loans. This is most likely owing to a tight capital situation," said an industry source requesting not to be quoted.

Executives from Bajaj Finserv and Fullerton India did not respond to DNA Money queries regarding market concerns about a possible slowdown in the consumer/ retail financing space. Capital First and Shriram City Union Finance could not be reached.

An on-the-ground survey with retailers of durables and electronics also ruled out any slowdown in consumer financing owing to the impact of the overall NBFC liquidity crisis. Bajaj Finserv led the pack of potential lenders followed by Tata Capital and Capital First. Shriram City and Fullerton India are not high up in the list of possible consumer/retail financing options.

"Financing schemes from Bajaj Finserv, Tata Capital and Capital First are on offer for consumers looking to purchase durables and electronics products. Besides, consumers also have the option of buying through an equated monthly instalment (EMI) scheme using credit/ debit cards," said a floor staff from Reliance Digital, the largest retail chain of consumer durables and electronics in India.

The durables and electronics space has witnessed good buying momentum in the recent past though that was not the case with the two-wheeler segment which faced some challenges. "The entire purchase decision was delayed by a few weeks owing to lack of clarity about costs associated with third-party insurance and so on. The durable and electronics space though has seen good growth of 25% to 30% over the previous month and certainly a far higher number over the last year. While we are still in the middle of the festive buying season right now, as far as consumer interest is concerned, there is definitely a significant growth," said Chopra, adding that Tata Capital has also introduced festive shopping offers on durables, electronics and two-wheeler automobile products.

FULL STEAM

Small-ticket size and well-capitalised market players cushioned the impact of NBFC liquidity crisis on consumer lending segment&nbsp;&nbsp;

Watch This Zee Business Video Here:

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/It_lSKXB9r4" width="100%"></iframe>

Consumer lending firms continue to raise money through various sources including banks, non-convertible debentures and commercial papers

Source: DNA Money

Consumer financing seems to have emerged unscathed in the ongoing liquidity crisis in the non-banking finance sector. In this festive season, consumers looking to shop for durables and electronics are unlikely to face any NBFC financing challenges compared to their peers in the housing and automobile market.


What NBFC crisis? Tata Capital, Bajaj Finserv and Capital First expected to do brisk business

Tax e-filing and investment platform ClearTax, which has just raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Composite Capital, is building its presence in the country.

The Bengaluru-headquartered start-up with offices in Mumbai and Delhi will be opening two new offices while also doubling the existing employee base of 300 in the coming months.

In an earlier interaction with DNA Money, Archit Gupta, founder and chief executive officer, ClearTax, said, “Our next focus will be on expanding to Hyderabad and Chennai.

Watch this Zee Business video here:

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZYPD_WbcOj4" width="100%"></iframe>

We see tax saving mutual funds as the big growth drivers, along with our goods and services tax (GST) matching service which will be launched soon.

“We are on an intensive hiring mode and looking to add more engineers and chartered accountants (CAs). We will be adding 300 people in the next four to five months so our team size will grow to 600,” said Gupta.

Tax e-filing and investment platform ClearTax, which has just raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Composite Capital, is building its presence in the country.


Tax e-filing and investment platform ClearTax raises $50 mn, all set to hire

Welspun India, which reported 18.7% on-year growth in profit after tax at Rs 114.8 crore for the July-September quarter of this fiscal, saw its margins getting impacted owing to depreciating rupee against the dollar. A part of the $2.3 billion Welspun Group, the textile firm has taken a hit of around Rs 37 crore due to currency fluctuation in the second quarter. In fact, the top management expects the margins will continue to shrink by almost similar figure over the next few quarters.

Responding to analysts’ concerns about the sharp reduction in the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margin, Rajesh Mandawewala, managing director, Welspun India, said the company’s hedging policy has been holding in good stead for the past four to five years.

“Unfortunately, this is the time when payback time has come, so about 2.5% to 2.8% of margin was lost actually on account of our hedging rate. If we were not in our hedge position, we would have realised Rs 70.2 as against the Rs 68.25 that we are currently at. This translates to about 2.8%,” said Mandawewala during the earnings call.

In fact, all the hedges between FY15 to FY18 had helped the company maintain a decent level of margin in the past. “Consequently, this year we are down by 2.5% to 3% in this quarter on account of the weak rupee. So the impact of hedging is about Rs 37 - 38 crore on a net basis.

In fact, our profit and loss (P&amp;L) could have looked better by that sum in the absence of hedging gains,” said Altaf Jiwani, global chief financial officer, Welspun India, during the call.

Watch this Zee Business video here:

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T88Ny-NYsxw" width="100%"></iframe>

He added that the (hedging) pain is likely to continue for the next two quarters as the company’s hedges were less than Rs 66 and there was a point when the currency came down to Rs 63. “We sell our exchange every week.

In fact, there was a long period when the currency was languishing at about Rs 63 and with a 4% kind of a premium, we were selling exchange at Rs 65 - Rs 66. Unfortunately, this is the period when it is hitting us the most,” said Jiwani.

While the exchange rate has had its impact, the company had various other one-off expenses that added pressure on the business, company executives said. “Besides, there are a few one-off expenses including about Rs 3 crore provision on investment of Rs 10 crore in IL&amp;FS.”

Welspun India, which reported 18.7% on-year growth in profit after tax at Rs 114.8 crore for the July-September quarter of this fiscal, saw its margins getting impacted owing to depreciating rupee against the dollar.&nbsp;


Home textile maker Welspun takes Rs 37 crore hit due to rupee fluctuation

Global snacking giant The Hershey Company, owner of iconic brands like Hershey’s, Reese’s and Jolly Rancher, sees tariff barriers as a key hurdle to export products from its India unit. The American company known for its chocolates is keen to export in a much bigger way from India, provided tariff barriers are brought down to facilitate the same.

Responding to a DNA Money query on exports from India, Steven Clay Schiller, president - international, The Hershey Company, said, “We would love to see tariff barriers come down and more reciprocal agreements between India and other markets as we would love to export in a much bigger way. But there are very restrictive tariffs to import into India; if you are another country, why would you make it easy for India to export to you.

So we’d love to see more bilateral and multilateral agreements that lower trade barriers and promote more free trade. We’d love to make our infrastructure work harder.” The Hershey Company’s local unit Hershey India Pvt Ltd exports from India into a set of countries that has Indian diaspora. According to Herjit S Bhalla, managing director, Hershey India, the company’s export volumes are very small.

“It’s a set of countries that we go into where you have the Indian population who buy some of the products in our portfolio. So it’s a part of a bigger plan and we don’t want to get into specific details. Yes, we are (exporting from India) but we are open to doing this in a much bigger way going forward. Currently, the focus is to really cater to the demand in the Indian market and then take it abroad,” said Bhalla.

The India unit is not importing any of the products and everything sold in the country is manufactured locally, Bhalla added. Speaking about the India market and its importance for the parent firm, Michele Buck, president and chief executive officer, The Hershey Company, said, our international business is key to our overall success.

“India is a critical part of that success. It’s one of the several international focus markets where we are making measured investments. India offers a significant growth opportunity given its economic and demographic potential and expected consumption growth rates in the years ahead. It is one of the fastest growing economies.

“We are committed to the future of Hershey India and have strong strategic plans in place. I am confident that India business will continue to grow and play and important role in the growth of our company in the years to come. Continuing with our tradition of bringing goodness, we are now introducing one of Hershey’s most loved product Hershey’s Kisses to India and making great tasting chocolates to consumers available here,” said Buck.

Watch This Zee Business Video Here:

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mvgYDyywwsI" width="100%"></iframe>

The Made in India Hershey’s Kisses will be offered across the South India markets - Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala in the initial stages. The company will gradually make it available across the country in a phased manner. It will be available at a price point of Rs 50 for a small pack of 36 gram while the larger take-home pack will be priced at Rs 140 for 108 gram. The products will be available in modern trade, large general trade and e-commerce portals.

Source: DNA Money

Global snacking giant The Hershey Company, owner of iconic brands like Hershey’s, Reese’s and Jolly Rancher, sees tariff barriers as a key hurdle to export products from its India unit.


Hershey keen to export in much bigger way from India, but there is a catch

Hotel companies are set to increase room rates by up to 20% as the business season kicks in a few weeks from now. Certain key markets are expected to see a higher double-digit increase in room rate, with the national average being between a high single digit and a lower double digit number.

Speaking with DNA Money, Patu Keswani, chairman and managing director, Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd, said absorption of the massive hotel room supply across India is still in process.

“This year, pricing will go up 15-20% in select markets only. Rates will go up between 7% and 15% in some markets while it will remain flat or increase marginally in a few other markets.”

For instance, Delhi will see a considerable hike in room rates as supply has been absorbed there, while Jaipur and Ahmedabad may not see a significant price hike, he said. “Also, hotels in the Hinjewadi area in Pune will not see a price hike, but city centre hotels will hike rates. Players in different markets will adopt a different re-pricing strategy based on conditions there,” said Keswani, adding that over the next two years all the new supply of hotel rooms across the country will get absorbed.

Watch this Zee Business video here:

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZtudrlELFeo" width="100%"></iframe>

Experts said hospitality markets like Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Bengaluru and micro markets in cities like Hyderabad will see a higher double-digit rate increase. In Goa it will be a function of how pricing (combination of air-tickets and hotel stays) compared to other options such as Bangkok and Dubai.

This summer was bad for the Goa market as compared to the previous year due to new hotel room supply and a drop in demand. In fact, the combination was a double whammy. After floods, Kerala is in a rebuilding stage, so a price hike situation is unlikely there while Chennai will witness a marginal increase in room rates.

Room rates have started rising in some markets this month itself, according to Ajay K Bakaya, MD, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts.

Source: DNA Money

Hotel companies are set to increase room rates by up to 20% as the business season kicks in a few weeks from now. Certain key markets are expected to see a higher double-digit increase in&nbsp;room&nbsp;rate, with the national average being between a high single digit and a lower&nbsp;double digit&nbsp;number.


Travelling? Here is a big money setback for you; prices set to double

A three-year wait by over 200 former employees of Steiner India Lavasa Business Unit for getting their unpaid dues cleared by infrastructure major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) is finally over.

The HCC management initiated the settlement process following a DNA Money report titled ‘Former Lavasa, Steiner India employees fret over unpaid dues’ published on September 6, 2018.

According to a former Steiner India employee, the HCC human resources department got into action post the news report. “We were pleasantly surprised to receive a communication from HCC HR, in the first week of September, that our full and final settlement is under process and that it will get cleared in the same month.

“While there was a slight delay, the pending dues were credited by HCC/ Steiner India on October 1, 2018. However, we are still awaiting the statement giving details of amounts being paid under various heads,” said the employee, adding that almost all the former employees have received their unpaid dues.

The Steiner India employees had to quit, voluntarily or involuntarily, and were awaiting full and final settlements despite several assurances by the HCC management of clearing unpaid dues since 2015.

According to former employees, the layoffs happened in batches of over 100 in two phases from Steiner India Ltd, a sister concern of HCC, that was executing developments in the Lavasa hill city project. Among various pending dues were gratuity, unpaid salaries, leave encashment, leave travel allowance, etc.

When contacted, HCC spokesperson did not comment on the development, calling it an ‘internal matter’. However, for the earlier news report, the spokesperson had said in an email response that during the restructuring process, through a process of voluntary attrition, around 35 employees exited from Lavasa since 2015, while in Steiner India Lavasa Business Unit, around 128 employees had resigned in the same period.

Watch This ZeeBusiness Video Here:

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oAyxSHkm1JM" width="100%"></iframe>

“Regarding full and final settlements of ex-employees in Lavasa and Steiner India, there is no dispute at all on the dues,” the spokesperson had said, adding that the ex-employee dues for Lavasa and Steiner India Lavasa Business Unit were around Rs 7 crore. Apparently, the unpaid dues to former employees and vendors (amount unknown) are over and above the Rs 3,500 crore debt that Lavasa Corp, which has been admitted to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), owes to the financial lenders’ consortium.

Source: DNA Money

A three-year wait by over 200 former employees of Steiner India Lavasa Business Unit for getting their unpaid dues cleared by infrastructure major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) is finally over.


Relief for 200 former Steiner India Lavasa Business Unit employees as Hindustan Construction Company starts clearing dues

When a 1,000-seater restaurant at Ikea’s Hyderabad store, the Swedish retailer’s first India outlet that was launched early August with much fanfare, served a ‘worm’ in vegetarian biryani, social media went berserk. The much-affordable and do-it-yourself furniture range from the home solutions major weren’t discussed so much in detail, but the dead worm ‘crawled’ its way across India to incite hot debates on the pitiable safety standards in the country’s fast-growing food industry.

As per news reports, Nagpur-based Haldiram was the vegetable biryani supplier to the Hyderabad store. Of course, the incident drew so much ire that Ikea had to stop serving two items – vegetarian biryani and samosa at its restaurant. The retailer initiated an internal review to undertake “corrective actions” before they plan to reintroduce the items at a later stage.

Recent cases where foreign objects – lizards to be precise – were present in vada served at outlets in Ambernath and Badlapur, two extended suburbs of Thane in Maharashtra, sent a shock wave across the food industry. What is more appalling is that these incidents happened within the space of a month at two different outlets at nearby locations. The complete disregard for following the basic safety and hygiene practices has surely frightened customers.

The eateries have since been shut down and complaints have been filed against the outlet owners. However, the fact that such incidents continue to happen raises major concerns over food safety issues and practices associated with such eateries operating across the country.

Incidents of food contamination and adulteration in hotels, restaurants, snacking and fast food outlets are not new. Many such instances may have gone unreported or settled privately to avoid public outcry.

Change in the air&nbsp; 
A lot of such instances have started making headlines in the last few years, thus building awareness among consumers. Additionally, it is also building pressure on the food business owners to adhere to the prescribed safety and hygiene norms. This is evident from the fact that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which regulates over 28 lakh small, medium and big food businesses in the country, is handling around 10,000-12,000 complaints every month.

Occurrences of food contamination and adulteration in the organised/ branded food and beverage retailing businesses have a strong recall in the minds of the consumers. Shockingly though, the food safety and hygiene situations are much worse when it comes to the unorganised fast/snacking food eateries operating in every nook and corner. Since most instances never get addressed, owners of these food businesses don’t feel compelled to adopt basic safety and hygiene practices.

FSSAI is making efforts to put in place quality and hygiene standards for almost all food items to make them suitable for human consumption. But the enormous size of the industry poses a big challenge.

In a recent interaction with DNA Money, Pawan Agarwal, chief executive officer, FSSAI, had said there are over 3,000 food safety field offices under the state governments to carry out inspections and compliance. “Recently, we have got an additional close to 500 positions under FSSAI to help us in better enforcement. Next, we are going to build capacities of food businesses so that they can ensure safety by themselves.”

“We have started Food Safety, Training and Certification (FoSTaC) system. Under this, all food businesses need to have at least one person trained and certified as per our standards. Around 40,000 people, out of a total of 3.5 lakh, have been trained so far under this programme. The focus is largely on restaurants, hotel segment, manufacturing and processing units,” added Agarwal.

Food delivery under scrutiny 
In July 2018, FSSAI issued a directive to food delivery platforms like Zomato, Swiggy, UberEats, Box8, Faasos, FoodCloud, Foodmongo, Foodpanda, JusFood and LimeTray to delist unregistered food business operations on their platform. The diktat was issued after complaints/video evidence posted on social networks by consumers about unhygienic operations and sub-standard food being delivered by certain food business operations (FBOs). In fact, earlier this month, the online food delivery platforms began the process of delisting thousands of FBOs that did not comply with FSSAI’s hygiene requirements.&nbsp;

The FSSAI move is expected to see a significant churn in listings of food delivery platforms due to non-compliance of FBOs. While food delivery platforms are pushing the FBOs for listing, industry experts are of the view that a lot of the secret kitchen and sweatshop operations may not re-list on the platforms. This is mainly because such FBOs operate from desolate locations and do not invest in state-of-the-art kitchens, skilled/trained manpower and premises that conform to the basic food safety and hygiene standards.

“What percentage of the delisted FBOs will come back on the food delivery platforms is an area of concern. That’s because secret kitchens and sweatshops operate on a shoestring budget, it is unclear if every FBO would want to go through the hassles of incurring costs on dealing with a food safety officer, or for that matter, conforming to FSSAI guidelines. The delisted FBOs could go back to conducting business sans online food delivery platforms,” said a top industry executive.

Challenges galore 
Although a system is being put in place by the regulator, it can’t pick up every sample as the entire ecosystem is very large and that many of these practices will take years to get embedded, he said.

While it’s mandatory for the organised and branded players to follow the standards/criteria being set by the FSSAI, the same is not true for their counterparts.

According to Ravi Wazir, a food and restaurant industry consultant, food safety and hygiene cannot be organised versus unorganised player topic. “It needs to be practised consciously by every single food and beverage operator regardless of whether s/he runs a sophisticated restaurant, a mid-level delivery kitchen or for that matter a simple snack-food cart on the street. After all, what use is the tastiest food if it isn’t safe to eat?” he said.&nbsp;

Consumers have been very particular about contamination and adulteration at branded outlets because they are paying a premium and expect high standards of safety and hygiene levels to be followed. While a few years ago, the roadside or neighbouring snack food vendor was able to get away with unsafe and unhygienic practices, that’s not the case anymore as consumers are becoming more aware and not shying away from reporting such incidents to municipal authorities and FSSAI for taking necessary disciplinary actions.

Industry experts believe that eateries flaunting regulatory permissions and/or FSSAI certifications are not necessarily a sign that all safety and hygiene rules are being followed. “Food safety works best when a business owner sees it as his moral obligation to society rather than merely another legal requirement to comply with. Those who think that the cost of initiating and maintaining food safety standards is high will soon realise that the cost of not doing so is considerably higher. One incident can badly damage the brand’s reputation, sales and relationships and at times, even result in the business shutting down,” said Wazir.

What can be done to make food safety and hygiene practices a top priority in every food business owner’s mind? FSSAI’s Agarwal outlines, first and foremost, greater public awareness around food safety is vital. “Second, training is required to build capacities around food safety in food businesses. Third is to have more effective enforcement. Since we have a large number of businesses to regulate and have a small staff, we expect businesses to ensure food safety by themselves.”

The FSSAI is also moving towards making regulations and their enforcement more effective through large-scale surveillance and monitoring activities. “As far as the law is concerned, it does not make any distinction between branded or non-branded players. The whole effort on building capacity in the food business is around making businesses more responsible from the food safety angle so that unintentional incidents of food safety while manufacturing, transportation or storage could be avoided,” Agarwal added.

SERVICE INTERRUPTED 
In July, FSSAI issued a directive to platforms like Zomato, Swiggy, UberEats, Box8, Faasos, FoodCloud, Foodpanda to delist unregistered food business operations on their platform&nbsp;&nbsp; 
The diktat was issued after complaints/video evidence posted on social networks about unhygienic operations and sub-standard food being delivered by certain food business operations

FSSAI’S HYGIENE RULE CODES 
Keep premises clean and have regular pest control&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Use potable water for food preparation&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Cook food thoroughly&nbsp; &nbsp; 
Store veg and non-veg food, raw and cooked food in separate containers&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Keep hot food above 60 degree celsius, cold food below 5 degree celsius and frozen foods at or below -18 degree celsius&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Use separate chopping boards, knives, etc, for raw cooked and veg/ non-veg food&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Wear clean clothes/ uniform&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Wash hand before and after handling food and after using toilets, coughing, sneezing, etc&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Use water proof bandage to cover cuts or burn woods&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Do not handle food when unwell&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Keep separate and covered dustbins for food waste

Watch this Zee Business video

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2rHwYthq474" width="100%"></iframe>

PIPING HOT 
28 lakh Small, medium and big food businesses regulated by FSSAI in the country 
40,000 People trained under Food Safety, Training and Certification system 
10,000-12,000 complaints FSSAI handling every month 
Globally, food control systems in advanced nations have much more staff and resources.&nbsp; &nbsp; 
The United States has a staff of 14,200 in its two agencies, the USDA and FDA to look after food safety.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Canada has over 4,000 staff in its food safety inspection services.&nbsp; &nbsp; 
Given the size of the country’s population, the geographical spread,&nbsp; diversity and the widespread prevalence of food businesses in the unorganised sector, India’s 824 posts in the country food safety authority is very low.

&nbsp;

Source: DNA Money

Recent cases where foreign objects – lizards to be precise – were present in vada served at outlets in Ambernath and Badlapur, two extended suburbs of Thane in Maharashtra, sent a shock wave across the food industry. What is more appalling is that these incidents happened within the space of a month at two different outlets at nearby locations. The complete disregard for following the basic safety and hygiene practices has surely frightened customers.


Ashish K Tiwari