KFC has launched a new initiative dubbed KFC Rewards, aimed at offering points to American customers for each transaction conducted through its app or website.
The program enables customers to gather points that can be traded for free menu items from KFC’s Secret Recipe Vault.
Customers enrolled in the KFC Rewards program will earn ten points for every eligible dollar spent.
Customers have the option to redeem their points for various complimentary food rewards, such as an eight-piece Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets, a chicken sandwich, or a free side.
The Rewards program showcases a rotating assortment of items, guaranteeing members access to a diverse array of fresh and appealing choices.
Members of KFC Rewards will also enjoy personalized offers, potentially including discounts or complimentary items.
Additionally, the program introduces rotating challenges where members can earn extra points and exclusive offers by ordering particular menu items.
Members can access their options at any time by visiting the Rewards page on the KFC app.
KFC US chief marketing officer Nick Chavez said, “Through our new loyalty programme, we will serve even more joy to our guests with incentives and special experiences that are only for our rewards members.”
Last month, KFC introduced its new Smash’d Potato Bowls in the US.
The dish features mashed potatoes alongside crispy Secret Recipe Fries, cheese sauce, bacon crumbles, and a three-cheese blend.
With a price tag of $3.49, these bowls join KFC’s menu after a successful trial in Pittsburgh last year.
India, the world’s leading rice shipper, may consider extending an export tax on the parboiled variety as part of efforts to ease food inflation ahead of national elections. This move could potentially maintain tight global supply and drive prices to new peaks, as reported by Bloomberg.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the administration led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is vying for a third term in the upcoming elections in the first half of this year, is contemplating maintaining the export levy at 20%. These individuals, requesting anonymity due to the confidential nature of the discussions, mentioned that there is presently no immediate plan to prohibit the export of parboiled rice. The current tax is set to expire on March 31.
Such a decision could contribute to the surge in benchmark Asian rice prices, which have remained close to a 15-year peak since India initiated limitations on the sale of crucial varieties in 2023. This development would pose challenges for certain nations in West Africa and the Middle East, as they heavily depend on India to fulfill most of their essential food staple needs.
A spokesperson representing both the food and commerce ministries declined to provide immediate comments.
Extending the levy would form a component of the government’s proactive strategies to manage food inflation, which surged to nearly 10% in December compared to the previous year. India has already restricted exports of wheat, sugar, and the majority of rice varieties, while also implementing measures to combat hoarding. Additionally, it has prolonged the period of low import duties on edible oils for another year.
However, rice retail prices in Delhi remain approximately 11% higher than they were a year ago. Food Minister Piyush Goyal launched a program on Tuesday to provide subsidized rice to retail customers across the country. The government is already selling wheat flour and chickpeas at rates cheaper than those in the market.
Before the restrictions, parboiled rice constituted roughly 30% of India’s total exports. This variety undergoes a process involving partial boiling of paddy prior to milling, enhancing its nutritional content and altering the texture of the cooked rice. In the 2022-23 period, India held a share of approximately 40% in the global rice trade.
V-Mart Retail Ltd, a value retail chain, reported a 41.36% surge in net profit to INR 28.23 crore for the third quarter ending in December 2023, aided by the festive season, according to a regulatory filing. This represents a significant increase from the INR 19.97 crore net profit reported in the same period of the previous year, spanning October to December.
During the quarter under review, its revenue from operations increased by 14.43% to INR 889.05 crore, compared to INR 776.88 crore in the corresponding quarter.
“Good festive demand in the quarter helped increase footfalls by 23 per cent reflecting an improved consumer sentiment. Winter season was delayed and remained muted during the quarter. Working capital improved with a decrease in inventory by 12 per cent from last quarter,” said an earning statement from the company.
In the December quarter of FY24, V Mart’s total expenses rose by 15.18% to INR 865.20 crore.
Parag Milk Foods Limited (PMFL), an Indian manufacturer and marketer of dairy-based branded products, has reported a significant increase of 268.8 percent year-on-year (YoY) in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) to INR 34.16 crore for the third quarter ending December 2023. This marks a substantial rise from the consolidated PAT of INR 9.26 crore reported in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, as stated by the company in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
In the third quarter of FY24, Parag Milk Foods Limited saw an 8.8 percent year-on-year increase in its consolidated revenue from operations, reaching INR 800.84 crore, driven by robust growth in the ghee and protein categories. This compares to the company’s consolidated revenue from operations of INR 735.89 crore in the third quarter of FY23.
The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 80.5% year-on-year, reaching an EBITDA margin of 8.6% in Q3 FY24, a notable improvement from the 5.2% margin in Q3 FY23.
The company witnessed a significant increase in its gross profit margin due to lower milk prices and enhancements in the product mix. The gross profit margin surged by 520 basis points year-on-year, soaring from 21.1% in Q3 FY23 to 26.5% in Q3 FY24.
PMFL is continuously investing in strengthening its brand through an innovative mix of marketing strategies. The company is actively expanding its distribution network, with the goal of tripling its reach to over 1.5 million retail outlets.
Commenting on the results Devendra Shah, Chairman, PMFL said, “Over the last two quarters, the milk procurement prices have been benign and we expect it to remain stable ahead. Improving consumer sentiments coupled with our continuous focus on the value-added products and the health and nutrition segment is expected to drive healthy performance in the future.”
Shah further said, “We are in the midst of a transformation journey aimed at driving efficiency across the value chain. With an ensuing expansion and acceleration of the distribution footprint, we are confident to show robust growth in our revenues and profitability.”
Tata Consumer Products Ltd recorded a consolidated net profit of INR 301.5 crore in the quarter ending December 2023, marking a 17 percent decrease from the INR 364 crore in the year-ago period.
The company’s net profit for the period is also lower compared to the previous quarter in September 2023, which was recorded at INR 363.9 crore.
During the quarter under review, the company’s revenue from operations totaled INR 3,804 crore, marking a 9 percent increase from the INR 3,475 crore reported in the same period last year.
The FMCG giant’s third-quarter revenue has surpassed expectations, as brokerages anticipated it to reach INR 3,731 crore.
The revenue is also slightly higher compared to the INR 3,734 crore recorded in the quarter ended September 2023.
Tata Consumer stated in a media release that the consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for Q3 FY24 reached INR 576 crore, representing a 26 percent growth. The margin grew by 200 basis points to 15.1 percent.
“We delivered strong operating performance with a revenue growth of 9 percent and EBITDA growth of 26 percent…Our sales and distribution buildout is progressing well, our total reach has expanded to 3.9 million outlets as of December ’23. We have been focused on driving depth in existing geographies and widening our distribution in lower population strata towns and urban areas and will now focus on rural areas as well,” Tata Consumer’s managing director and CEO Sunil D’Souza said.
In the trading session on February 7, the company’s scrip settled at INR 2,160.00 apiece on the BSE, higher by 1.34 percent as compared to the previous day’s close.
FMCG major Nestle India reported a 4.38% rise in net profit to INR 655.61 crore for the fourth quarter ended December 2023, compared to INR 628.06 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal year, as per a BSE filing.
The company’s total revenue from operations rose to INR 4,600.42 crore in Q4 CY24 from INR 4,256.79 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
The company attributed its 8.9% domestic sales growth to pricing and mix improvements, highlighting robust momentum in e-commerce and out-of-home channels.
According to the regulatory filing, Nestle India’s total expenses increased to INR 3,636.94 crore in Q4 CY24 from INR 3,427.27 crore in Q4 CY23.
Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director of Nestle India said, “The quarter was marked by an increase in brand investments across all product groups. I am also pleased to note that during the year 2023, our total sales grew by over 13.3 per cent and we crossed INR 19,000 crore mark.”
“All key brands and product groups have contributed to Nestle India’s consistent growth trajectory,” he shared.
The beverages segment of the company experienced double-digit growth, with Nescafe notably gaining substantial market share. Additionally, the milk and nutrition product group recorded double-digit growth. Prepared dishes and cooking aids maintained commendable growth this quarter, while confectionery also showed strong performance.
Narayanan added that the company’s out-of-home business experienced rapid acceleration this quarter, driven by a focus on pertinent innovations, targeted geographical expansion, and strong penetration into emerging channels, including the opening of new kiosks in strategic locations.
“E-commerce delivered strong growth contributing to 7% of domestic sales in this quarter. Organized trade also witnessed strong growth backed by festive walk-ins and new product launches. The teams excelled in rolling our shopper resonant activities across our large portfolio in both legacy platforms and the fast growing ‘quick commerce,” the company said in a statement.
Sharing about the rural-urban market growth, Narayanan said, “We are very pleased with an uptick in sales in our RUrban markets which has sustained despite the challenging environment. Our RUrban strategies of creating portfolio, infrastructure analytic platforms, activation has supported deeper penetration and distribution expansion that we have witnessed.”
During this quarter, the company expanded its direct coverage and added 5,300 villages, reaching a total of over 196,000 villages, close to 200,000 villages. The FMCG major shared that its customer ordering app in RUrban markets, NesMitra, has resulted in boosting engagement and gaining significant business traction. NesMitra app has over 7,500 active users which is increasing steadily, and it has been recognized in the Nestle world for driving efficiency and speed.
“Service excellence and partnership with our retail and distributor partners is our consistent cornerstone of achieving strong results. Innovation and renovation are key components of our business strategy,” the company said.
Nestle India’s board of directors has declared a third interim dividend for the financial year 2023-24 of INR 7 per equity share (face value of INR 1 each) amounting to INR 674.91 crore, which will be paid on and from 5th March 2024.
According to the filing, this dividend is supplementary to the initial interim dividend of INR 27 per equity share (face value of INR 10/- each) and the subsequent interim dividend of INR 140 per equity share (face value of INR 10 each), disbursed on May 8th, 2023, and November 16th, 2023, respectively.
The face value of the equity share has changed from INR 10 each to INR 1 each.
According to a report released on Wednesday, the price of a typical home-cooked vegetarianthali rose by 5 percent compared to last year in January, whereas the cost of a non-vegetarian thali decreased by 13 percent.
As per Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics (MI&A) Research ‘Rice Roti Rate’ estimates, the rise in prices of ingredients like pulses, rice, onion, and tomato made home-cooked veg thali costlier in January, while the decline in poultry rates helped in the fall in non-veg thali rates.
The report stated that the price of the vegetable thali rose as a result of a year-on-year surge of 35% and 20% in the prices of onions and tomatoes, respectively.
The report further mentioned that the prices of rice, which constitute 12% of the vegetable thali cost, and pulses, making up 9%, also experienced year-on-year increases of 14% and 21%, respectively.
The drop in the price of the non-vegetarian thali, meanwhile, was attributed to a 26 percent decrease in broiler prices in January compared to the previous year, driven by increased production, according to the report.
Yet, in a sequential manner, the prices of the vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis dropped by 6 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
The reduction in expenses was attributed to a 26 percent decrease in onion prices and a 16 percent decrease in tomato prices month-on-month, driven by increased domestic onion supply due to export restrictions and the arrival of fresh tomatoes from northern and eastern states, as outlined in the report.
The drop in the price of the non-vegetarian thali accelerated due to an 8-10 percent decrease in broiler prices month-on-month, which constitute 50 percent of the total cost, as stated.
On Wednesday, Meesho, the ecommerceunicorn, launched its tech platform Valmo, aimed at facilitating affordable deliveries and bridging supply chain gaps nationwide. Valmo empowers micro-entrepreneurs to fulfill orders efficiently.
The platform unites logistics platforms, technology partners, and small entrepreneurs managing sorting centers to streamline the delivery process.
Currently, the ecommerce player utilizes Valmo to fulfill orders made on its marketplace.
Meesho stated that Valmo operates through disaggregated network nodes spread across the country, encompassing first-mile, last-mile, and sorting centers. This decentralized structure enables delivery partners to be situated in close proximity to users, resulting in reduced delivery times.
“Valmo is about getting organised smaller players to play a part in the larger e-commerce system. The smaller players amount to only about 20-22% of the ecommerce deliveries today. With Valmo as a network, we believe we can take that share to 45% in the next one year,” Meesho’s CXO – fulfilment and initiatives Saurabh Pandey said.
The startup disclosed that it has been diligently developing the platform over the past 18-24 months before launching it last year.
Meesho said it has teamed up with companies such as ElasticRun, FarEye, LoadShare, and Shipsy to cultivate the technological capabilities necessary for Valmo.
Pandey elaborated on the network’s model, stating that opting for disaggregated logistics supply chain over large node models is a better strategy. This approach minimizes platform investment and fosters a more dependable model by facilitating stronger connections between sellers and the various logistic partners involved at different stages.
Meesho stated that Valmo currently assists in handling more than 900,000 daily orders. The deliveries managed by Valmo span approximately 6,000 pin codes across over 20 Indian states.
The startup stated that it had onboarded 3,000 micro-entrepreneurs on the platform. It claimed to generate 35,000 indirect jobs through engagement with these local partners as of now.
It also mentioned that it is currently experimenting with Valmo for grocery deliveries.
Pandey mentioned that Valmo has assisted Meesho in reducing its logistics costs by 5%. However, as of now, the unicorn does not have any plans to shift the fulfillment of all orders onto the network.
Meesho stated that it will maintain its collaboration with third-party logistics providers such as Delhivery, Shadowfax, Xpressbees, Ecom Express, and others.
As ecommerce penetration grows in the country, the Indian logistics market is experiencing rapid expansion. Meesho vies for market share alongside Flipkart and Amazon in the ecommerce sector. Both these giants possess their own logistics arms. Flipkart’s logistics arm, eKart, extends services to small, medium, and large businesses (SMBs), as well as other brands across India.
Last year, Amazon injected an extra INR 400 Cr into its Indian logistics subsidiary, Amazon Transportation Services. This investment was aimed at facilitating the delivery of non-Amazon orders through a new vertical known as Amazon Shipping.
Meesho saw a 48% year-on-year decrease in its net loss to INR 1,675 Cr in FY23, while its operating revenue surged by 77% to INR 5,735 Cr.
Orios Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm, has made a partial exit from Country Delight, a dairytech startup it backed seven years ago, achieving a remarkable 45X return on its initial investment. Known for its investments in companies like Battery Smart, Karbon, ixigo, Mobikwik, CarDekho, and Vedantu, Orios Venture Partners remains a notable player in the venture capital landscape.
Nevertheless, the firm retains the majority of its investment stake from Fund I in the company.
“When investing back in 2017, Orios had built a thesis on subscription commerce and had as part of the sector study met with more than 40 companies before selecting Country Delight,” the fund said in a statement.
Additionally, it emphasized that the exit highlights the effectiveness of Orios’ strategy in identifying top-performing companies and making early investments in them.
Established in 2013 by Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight operates on a subscription-based model, sourcing milk directly from farmers and providing doorstep delivery services to customers. In addition to milk, the company offers a range of products including bread, ghee, other dairy items, as well as fruits and vegetables.
The startup has secured nearly $158 million (excluding the ongoing funding round) across multiple rounds. Among its marquee investors are Temasek, Matrix Partners, Orios Ventures, and Elevation Capital.
In FY22, Country Delight experienced a significant increase in its net loss, surging over 6 times to INR 186.4 crore from INR 28.2 crore, while its revenue from operations more than doubled, reaching INR 542.6 crore.
According to the company’s statement, it has undergone significant growth since its establishment, securing a total of 9 funding rounds and reaching a valuation of $820 million in its most recent funding round.
Rehan Yar Khan, managing partner at Orios Venture Partners, said, “We believe exceptional founders in large spaces can build special companies. With Country Delight, it has been an honour and great learning experience to watch Chakradhar and Nitin build the company, from a single product to over 140 products”
“We look at between 4000 to 5000 companies in a year to invest in 10. We have been doing this since 2008, first as private investors and then since 2014 as an AIF fund. The same process also led to the identification of Ola and Druva”
Meanwhile, Orios Venture Partners, launched in 2014, primarily invests in software and technology-enabled startups. Last month, it announced the return of INR 300 Cr from Fund I to its investors.
Launched in 2014, the VC firm’s Fund I reached its final close at INR 300 Cr in 2015.
The fund prioritized its resource allocation, with a notable emphasis on marketplaces, accounting for 27.07%, followed by direct-to-consumer (D2C) at 17.7% and healthtech at 14.45%. Key portfolios within the fund include PharmEasy, Country Delight, and Zostel.
Orios aims to strengthen its position further with substantial returns projected for both 2024 and 2025.
Orios was among the investors in troubled car servicing startup GoMechanic, which it marked down amid controversies surrounding the company.
In September last year, two former managing partners of Orios, Anup Jain and Rajeev Suri, stepped down from their positions to pursue other opportunities.
As per a report, Indian startups secured a little over $10 billion in funding by December 25, registering a 60% decline from $25 billion raised in the year before.
In a move towards advancing Digital India, Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary of the Department of Food and Public Distribution, launched a pilot program to onboard fair price shops (FPSs) onto the Open Network Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform in the Una and Hamirpur districts of Himachal Pradesh.
The pilot program was initiated virtually across 11 FPSs, with five in Una and six in Hamirpur districts. This marks the first onboarding of fair price shops onto the ONDC platform.
Speaking on the occasion, Chopra said this landmark initiative adds to the continuous efforts of his department in transforming the fair price shops. This effort aims at providing additional avenues of income generation for FPS dealers along with enhancing beneficiary satisfaction.
Furthermore, he emphasized that this initiative offers numerous benefits for FPS dealers, including visibility in the digital marketplace, access to a larger customer base beyond NFSA beneficiaries, and the ability to compete on an equal footing with large retailers and e-commerce platforms.
Moreover, beneficiaries encountering challenges with online purchases can turn to FPS dealers to place orders on their behalf.
He highlighted that the success of the pilot being implemented in Himachal Pradesh will serve as a model for statewide and nationwide adoption in the future. Additionally, he appreciated the support of MicroSave Consulting (MSC) in deploying this pilot program.
Following the launch event, a physical workshop was arranged for FPS dealers in Una and Hamirpur districts. The workshop provided guidance on cataloguing products, managing service orders, and understanding the commission structure on ONDC.
Established on December 31, 2021, ONDC transcends the existing platform-centric digital commerce model, wherein both the buyer and seller must utilize the same platform or application to engage in digital visibility and conduct business transactions.
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