PackMan’s weekly highlights: The good, the grim, and the GDP
This week, private equity firms seek to pump more money into Indian companies, qCommerce continues full steam ahead (albeit, as a double-edged sword for kirana stores), and alco-bevs continue to diversify in the region.
19 Nov 2024 | By Anhata Rooprai
Growth on the cards
Blackstone eyes a Haldiram’s snack
On a busy flight to the national capital, PackMan overheard that the private equity firm, Blackstone, is now after a smaller stake in Haldiram’s, at 20%. Haldiram’s was valued at USD eight-billion dollars. The private equity firm wanted a 76% share in the company earlier, after a valuation of Rs 70,000 crore. Disagreements on the valuation continue. Companies like Temasek Holdings and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are also interested in the company, whose Nagpur and Delhi arms merged in 2023.
PackMan was fortunate to rub shoulders with Shivkishan Agrawal of Haldiram’s at the ElitePlus summit in Mumbai. Readers will recall that Agrawal was bestowed with a lifetime achievement and a standing ovation at the Jio World Convention Centre.
Urban consumption recovery to take six months as per Marico
Marico’s managing director, Saugata Gupta’s interview in a business daily makes for grim news. Gupta said that whenever there is food inflation, there is an impact on FMCG goods, either by way of downgraded consumption, or concentrated consumption.
According to Reuters, over the past 24 months, India’s food inflation has averaged 7% and more than 6% over the past 48 months. Meanwhile, vegetable prices have seen double-digit inflation for 22 months in the last four years.
This, PackMan says, will impact GDP growth. And packaging growth.
Dehlivery CEO mulls impact of qCommerce
Sahil Barua, CEO of Dehlivery told leading business portals that quick commerce is impacting the performance of local kirana stores, even more so than eCommerce platforms. Notably, Datum Intelligence found that qCommerce would take more than USD one-billion in sales from kirana stores.
In a related development, PackMan observes slow growth by FMCG companies. This means firms have reduced inventories and are redesigning their supply chain for go-to-market strategies. This is notable considering the growth of eCommerce and qCommerce.
Varchas Whiskey: New launches; entry into Telangana and Haryana
American alco-bev company, Varchas Whiskey, is reportedly going to enter the northern and southern markets in India (with Haryana and Telangana respectively). It plans to launch a product for Indian customers. PackMan says this is good news for premium packaging, bottlers and labellers.