Top five FMCG trends of the week from WhatPackaging?

Domino’s to add 1,300 new outlets across India
The largest retail network for fast-food, Domino’s Pizza by Jubilant FoodWorks will be adding 1,300 new stores across the country. And so, India will have 3,000 stores in 317 cities. A new initiative 20 minutes delivery will be introduced in 14 cities to deliver a good experience and retain customers. 
The game is on. WhatPackaging? readers will be keen to know that India’s quick service market will rise to Rs 53,400-cr by 2025. So keep gobbling those pizzas.

India among top five growing markets for Starbucks
With a sales of 636 crores across 36 cities in India, Starbucks has recorded a  growth of 76%. This year Starbucks has added 100 stores, including 30 in 10 cities in the last six months. Sushant Dash, CEO, Starbucks India told a biz daily that “The chain's outlets in malls and stand alone outlets contributed the most revenues.”

Trivia question: Disha and Charmiane say that Starbucks usually gets their name incorrect. So they resort to giving a different name. Do any of you use different names at Starbucks because the name on your Aadhaar card becomes something totally different?

Nestle to explore small towns
Nestle India will focus on 2000 villages. Also, it may hike prices in India. And so, Nestle India  will be recalibrating its portfolios towards brands that are capable of giving better values. Interesting trivia: Six to seven percent of logistic movements of Nestle products are via Indian Railways.

While we were watching the biz news on CNBC-TV18 (now that the FIFA World Cup has concluded), we spotted Suresh Narayanan, the managing director of Nestle India on the channel. He said, “Apart from milk, wheat and a few other commodities are still showing a very firm trend. Premature to prognosticate if it will be an easier year in terms of inflation.” he added that the D2C model is being tested “only in Delhi-NCR.”

BigBasket plans to expand the core grocery business
BigBasket, currently delivers in 55 cities. Now it is trying to extend its services to 75 cities in the country. This will happen in the initial days of the new year. Hari Menon, CEO, BigBasket said, “There is significant expansion underway in the tier-two markets where the company will aim to deliver in 35-40 minutes. As adding more stores without sufficient density may not make sense.” 

Our team member in Dharampur town spotted a BigBasket outlet in the main street. This town (30 kms from Valsad) has a population of 20,000 only. It’s all happening, as the legendary Richie Benaud used to greet us from Gabba.

Burmans sell 1% of their share in Dabur
Amit Burman, non-executive director, Dabur India and Saket Burman, vice-chairman, Dabur India have a majority stake in Dabur India. They sold approximately 1% of their shares, which raised over Rs 1,000 crore. 

The market buzz is: The Burmans are expected to invest most of their revenue in a restaurant venture called Lite Bite Foods. Presently, Lite Bite Foods operates around 150 food and beverage outlets, across malls, airports and hotels. 

Some Dabur trivia to vet your appetite:

3.1 crore Hajmola tablets daily
63 lakh spoons of Chyawanprash daily
20 lakh glasses of Real Juice daily

But what impressed the young folks at WP? magazine is: Dabur’s Adarsh Pathshala, Ek Nayi Pehal project to revamp government schools and turn them into model schools. Viva literacy.