Thursday, July 17, 2008

Riding the FMCG rodeo

Ravi Naware and Sandeep Kaul take the FMCG plunge for ITC

The first two things that greet you when you enter the ITC food division office (spread over a vast expanse of green in Pulikeshinagar) at Bangalore, are the gigantic product layouts of Ashirvad atta and Bingo, immediately followed by a huge chart displaying AC Nielsen’s survey on the company’s existing product penetration across the country. The team at ITC knocks a red dot off the map everyday, as they go about ensuring their presence in every corner of India, by the end of this year.

Year 2007 saw the Y.C. Deveshwar led ITC, venturing into four new segment - snacks (through Bingo), organic spices (through Aashirvaad organic spices), healthy foods (through Sunfeast Sachin Fit Kit range) and into the personal care segment, giving sleepless nights to HUL and P&G. The strategy is simple, the tobacco major is strengthening its pillars in the most lucrative FMCG segments, food & personal care.

However, in both the segments, ITC is trailing different routes. The cigarette major entered the personal care segment way back in 2005 (with Essenza De Willis perfumes) and is following a slow and steady route (the company launched Fiama Di Wills shampoos in 2007). Depending on the market response, they will launch more products. Affirms, Sandeep Kaul, Head, Personal Care Division, ITC Limited, “After the success of Fiama Di Wills, we introduced Superia soaps and shampoos in a few key markets. This brand is now being rolled out to selective markets.” Going forward, the company is gung-ho on testing the water with new products in 2008.

In the foods segment, ITC is aggressively cooking up plans for ensuring yummy times ahead. If capturing a market share of 16% with debutant Bingo was not enough, Ravi Naware, Division CEO, ITC Foods is now mulling grand expansion plans for 2008. He told 4Ps B&M, “We will be venturing into new areas that’s for sure, but at the same time we will be enhancing our existing business. The bid is to be present in all possible areas in 2008.”

With its food venture, ITC has already gained an edge over global FMCG giant HUL. However, on the personal care front, HUL continues to steal the show. “ITC builds a strong back end support for all their ventures and HUL comparatively has never had the patience to create such a model, on a long term basis. No doubt ITC’s food business is doing well, but in personal care HUL still dominates the market,” explains Mahesh Joshi, Associate, Institutional Equity, Edelweiss Securities Private Limited.

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Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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