A four-year long partnership between chocolate powerhouse Hershey and the Godrej Group in India has been disbanded, according to media reports. Both sides mutually agreed to call off the joint venture, which was kickstarted in 2007; furthermore, the US confectioner will sell its 51 per cent stake to Godrej Consumer Products for an undisclosed sum, reports The Economic Times of India. However, Godrej’s general manager, Isha Iyer said the media reports were “speculative” and that, as a po...

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Portuguese confectionery and cake company Dan Cake has entered into a joint venture with Indian Phadnis Group. The new production facility will have five production lines focused on family cakes, butter cookies, Swiss rolls, cup cakes and lady fingers. The total production capacity of the plant in India is expected to be 10 tonnes per day in a 24-hour shift.

“To enter the Indian market at the earliest, we are considering initial production near Khopoli till our Chakan plant is fully functi...

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The Indian subsidiary of the international confectionery company Perfetti Van Melle has entered the snacks business with the launch of a new range called ‘Stop Not’.

It is the first country in the Perfetti Van Melle group to diversify its product portfolio to include ready-to-eat, packaged salty snacks.

Sameer Suneja, managing director of Perfetti Van Melle India, says, “Salty snacks is a very exciting and challenging category to be in. The category has seen a lot of action in the las...

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Cadbury India, as part of the Kraft Foods Group, is to introduce the Oreo biscuit brand to India. The introduction marks the entry into a new category in India. “Oreo is the number one biscuit in the world by value and enjoys market leadership in many markets including the US and China,” says Anand Kripalu, president, South Asia & Indo-China, Kraft Foods, and managing director, Cadbury India. He adds, “Introducing Oreo marks the beginning of our journey in this growing category. The Ind...

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Starbucks is seeking to establish a presence in India, a market it believes could ultimately rival China in importance. The US multinational has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tata Group, a conglomerate active in sectors from the auto industry to consultancy.

Tata Coffee is one of the country's biggest coffee producers, and owns the Eight O'Clock Coffee grocery brand, created by US retailer A&P in 1859, acquired from Gryphon Investors in 2005.

Howard Schultz, Starbucks chief executiv...
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cadbury has confirmed that it will  expand the production capacity for its confectionery portfolio in India.

Managing director Anand Kripalu said that capacity is a "challenge" for the firm and that Cadbury will be looking to "drive up volumes". Kripalu said the expansion will take place at the company's existing six facilities in India but declined to comment on investments and any additional output. Asked if Cadbury will be selling more products from Kraft portfolio, Kripalu said: "As of n...

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Perfetti van Melle is set to increase capacity in a plant in southern India as its two year long marketing efforts pay dividends in terms of its gum and éclair market penetration, according to a report in the Hindu Business Line.

Current 17,000 tonne capacity of its Chennai facility will be bolstered by over 50 per cent, claims managing director of PVM India, Sameer Suneja, The current capacity for the company in India is 70,000 tonnes, with manufacturing bases in two other locations in No...

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Carrefour's first Indian outlet will be opened in the country's capital, Delhi, by the end of next month. The 55,000 square feet shop would be located at the Metro Mall complex in the Seelampur area of east Delhi and would offer 30,000 products.

Under current Indian government regulations it can operate only as a wholesaler. “We are going full steam to register the clients, who would be small shop owners and hotels,” the spokesperson said. “We are approaching them all over the city bec...

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Hrshey's Indian joint venture Godrej Hershey is reported to be introducing chocolate products into Indian confectionery market. The JV was established in 2007, and it was focused on mainly food and sugar confectionery products in India.Hershey holds 51% of the joint venture.  The JV has already introduced a chocolate syrup into the Indian market from Hershey's portfolio.

According to Euromonitor reports that the growing Asian economies and rising consumer affluence have resulted in consumer...

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Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer, has secured four properties in four cities across India and plans to set up 4 to 5 cash-and-carry stores by the end of 2010. Carrefour has signed for properties averaging about 100,000 square feet each in New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad and is in the process of signing up a fifth property in Mumbai, the sources said.

The company has set up two entities in India, Carrefour WC&C India Pvt Ltd to run cash-and-carry business and Carrefo...

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Dutch-Italian confectioner Perfetti Van Melle has developed an innovative way of distributing 200,000 samples of its Mangofillz confectionery in Mumbai: hiring traditional lunch deliverers – the famous ‘Dabbawalas’ – to hand them out.

Nikhil Sharma, Perfetti India's senior controller, marketing, said: “Dabbawalas pretty much play the role of the shopkeepers. We made a tie-up with their association, and have the samples of our new product distributed through their network against ...

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Danone has launched a flavoured milk under Choco Plus brand in India, which is the first dairy launch of Danone in the country. The 200ml product is priced at INR16 (US$0.13) and is being produced in a dairy product plant based in Pune, near Bombay.

Danone has also announced plans to double the production of dairy products at its new plant in Thailand in order to push into other south-east Asian markets as early as next year.Danone realizes 40% of its sales in emerging markets. 

In April, Danon...

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UK biscuit manufacturer United Biscuits is preparing to enter India, where the group plans to manufacture and market biscuits for Asia's third-largest economy. "Having identified India as a market with great potential, UB plans to manufacture and market biscuits directly in the country for the Indian market,” a spokesperson for the UB told. The spokesperson added that the group is still conducting “trials and market assessment” but UB does plan to set up new manufacturing facilities in ...

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Nestle India has confirmed that it is mulling a proposal that would see the company take ownership of the healthcare and nutrition business of Speciality Foods. In a note to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Indian unit of the Swiss food giant said that its board was meeting on 7 December to consider a possible deal.

Speciality Foods' healthcare nutrition business includes such brands as Resource, Optifast and Spert.

Source: just-food.com

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Data sourced from Hindu Business Line; additional content by Warc staff,
27 November 2009

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A new report from Datamonitor suggests that private label products are posing a threat for FMCG companies in India.

According to the consumer survey, The Impact of Private Labels on FMCG Companies in India, consumers now perceive these store brands as offering comparable quality to national brands in addition to their value propositions.

Indian retailers are emphasising the growth of their private label brands, which is resulting in margin expansion and providing greater bargaining power i...

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