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Since 2013, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> has promised that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla">Tesla</a> will have a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/business/tesla-self-drive-car/index.html">self-driving car</a>. To get there, the company has leaned on a specialized group of test drivers who are part of what's known internally as "Project Rodeo."Test drivers on Project Rodeo say they push the company's self-driving software to its limit. They work to bridge the gap between driver-assist software and fully autonomous driving. Operating on open streets with other vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians, they have tested unreleased software that will be crucial to Tesla's push into autonomous driving.Test drivers said they sometimes navigated perilous scenarios, particularly those drivers on Project Rodeo's "critical intervention" team, who say they're trained to wait as long as possible before taking over the car's controls. Tesla engineers say there's a reason for this: The longer the car continues to drive itself, the more data they have to work with. Experts in self-driving tech and safety say this type of approach could speed up the software's development but risks the safety of the test drivers and people on public roads."The idea is that you're a cowboy on a bull and you're just trying to hang on as long as you can," a former test driver who trained for the critical-intervention team in San Francisco said.Business Insider spoke with nine current and former Project Rodeo test drivers and three Autopilot engineers in states including California, Texas, and Florida. The drivers worked on training Tesla's Full Self-Driving software and its Autopilot software, which, despite the products' names, require a licensed driver at the wheel. Most asked to remain anonymous, citing a fear of professional reprisal, but their identities are known to Business Insider. Eight of the drivers described experiences that occurred over the past year, mostly between November and April.<div type="image" title="tesla cars in a parking lot" height="2827" width="4195" msid="114814069" hostid="261" sizebytes="1645262"></div>None of the test drivers who spoke with BI said they had been involved in a crash.Five who worked for the company in 2024 said they narrowly avoided collisions, including almost hitting a group of pedestrians. One former critical-intervention driver in Texas told BI that they sometimes ventured into their city's bar district late at night to see how Tesla's FSD software reacted to drunk patrons spilling out after last call. The former driver in San Francisco recalled riding around Stanford University during training, testing how close FSD would allow the vehicle to get to people at crosswalks before they had to take over. And a third critical-intervention driver said they allowed the car to speed through yellow lights and drive 35 mph under the speed limit on an expressway to avoid disengaging the system.A former Autopilot engineer told BI that while testing is done on open roads, Tesla runs hundreds of simulations and sometimes tests difficult scenarios on a closed course before rolling out new software to test drivers' vehicles.Tesla did not respond to a detailed list of questions about Project Rodeo and its self-driving technology.The test drivers' experiences highlight the balancing act Tesla and other automakers face as they prepare their self-driving software for widespread consumer use.Experts say public testing is crucial and can help identify safety issues before the technology hits the market. Missy Cummings, a former safety advisor for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said that while practices vary, she believes many autonomous-vehicle companies likely employ tactics similar to Tesla's."In theory, these drivers have gone through training, and eventually these cars do need to be able to operate in the public domain," Cummings said. She added that clearly marked vehicles could help the public better identify test drivers.Safety experts say fragmented and limited autonomous-vehicle regulations, coupled with self-reporting by automakers, create a complex environment where companies balance public safety with getting their products ready for commercial use."There are very few rules around autonomous testing and a lot of dependency on self-reporting," said Mark Rosekind, a former NHTSA administrator and chief safety innovation officer for Zoox, an Amazon-owned autonomous-taxi firm. "If companies aren't reporting, it's hard to know what's going on."In the past decade, authorities have investigated several automakers, including Tesla, Waymo, and Cruise, over crashes involving self-driving or driver-assist software.<div type="image" title="elon musk looks at a tesla" height="3488" width="4868" msid="114814075" hostid="261" sizebytes="1020846"></div>A lot depends on Tesla's promise of autonomous driving; Musk said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-worth-basically-zero-without-self-driving-2022-6">in 2022</a> that self-driving was "really the difference between Tesla being worth a lot of money or worth basically zero." The Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-robotaxi-release-date-elon-musk-stock-price-2024-9">note</a> last month that the company's future valuation was "highly dependent on its ability to develop, manufacture, and commercialize autonomous technologies." Tesla's stock fell by 10% on October 11, the day after the company's robotaxi event. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/tesla-stock-price-q3-earnings-elon-musk-profit-margins-guidance-2024-10">It rebounded after Tesla reported earnings on October 23</a>, and it's up by more than 3% overall in the year to date.<h2 id="e24440fb-f024-4003-b2a2-7b4d055c8c7a">Inside the day-to-day of a Project Rodeo driver</h2>Tesla went on a hiring spree this year, bringing on test drivers in at least half a dozen US cities, a review of LinkedIn profiles suggests.A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-job-openings-seasonal-test-drivers-data-capture-2023-7">job listing from 2023</a> said test drivers needed a "clean driving record, safe driving habits, and a minimum of 4 years of licensed driving experiences." Eight drivers told BI that the onboarding process included two to three weeks of hands-on training, including test drives with a trainer in the passenger seat.According to employees and internal documents, one specialty within Project Rodeo works to replicate the job of a ride-hailing driver by picking random points on a map and driving between them. Those working on a different team, known as the "golden manual" team, drive manually, without any assistance, to train FSD software on what by-the-book, error-free driving looks like.Critical-intervention test drivers, who are among Project Rodeo's most experienced, let the software continue driving even after it makes a mistake. They're trained to stage "interventions" — taking manual control of the car — only to prevent a crash, said the three critical-intervention drivers and five other drivers familiar with the team's mission. Drivers on the team and internal documents say that cars rolled through red lights, swerved into other lanes, or failed to follow posted speed limits while FSD was engaged. The drivers said they allowed FSD to remain in control during these incidents because supervisors encouraged them to try to avoid taking over.The critical-intervention drivers recalled multiple instances where they felt unsafe but believed intervening could put their jobs at risk. The former driver in Texas recalled taking over only after FSD nearly rammed the car into the side of a vehicle stopped at an intersection.Non-critical-intervention drivers said they also felt pressure to push the system as far as possible. Five current and former employees said that they were instructed to intervene if they became uncomfortable with the software's behavior but that they sometimes received feedback from their supervisors if they were considered to have disengaged too early.John Bernal, a former test driver and data analyst at Tesla, said test drivers dealt with risky situations as far back as 2022. (Bernal was terminated that year; he said he was fired for sharing videos on his YouTube channel that showed his personal Tesla malfunctioning while using FSD.) He described instances where he broke traffic laws in order to collect data. Bernal said that his supervisors never instructed him to break the law but that he sometimes felt it was the only way to get the data the company wanted.He recalled one test in 2022 that was designed to see how well the system recognized a red light."My training was to wait until the wheels touched the white line before I could slam on the brakes," Bernal said. He said he sometimes ended up in the middle of the intersection if the system didn't work correctly.He also worked to train the autonomous software on "vulnerable road users" — defined by the Department of Transportation as pedestrians, bicyclists, people on scooters or in wheelchairs, or highway workers on foot — when he manually drove the "Ground Truth Machine," a Tesla outfitted with lidar and radar sensors to help the system map and identify objects."I'd drive over double lines to get close to a bike," Bernal said. "I would go obnoxiously slow through an alleyway where drunk people were, and I would be extremely rude and get really close to people."<div type="image" title="tesla showroom with autopilot posters" height="2939" width="4200" msid="114814073" hostid="261" sizebytes="255868"></div>Two years later, test drivers were asked to train the system near pedestrians, test drivers said. Five recalled a bug with FSD that made vehicles brake too early at crosswalks. To improve its performance, they were instructed to interact with pedestrians as frequently as possible.Sometimes, the drivers said, the software would slam on the brakes when no one was at the crosswalk; other times, it wouldn't stop at all. According to Tesla employees and internal documentation, FSD's performance depended heavily on its software version, and the versions appeared to operate at different levels of caution.The former San Francisco driver said that as they drove around Stanford University, their trainer, another test operator with more experience on the team, chastised them for braking too early. They recalled that at one point they came within three feet of hitting a bicyclist at a roundabout."I vividly remember this guy jumping off his bike. He was terrified," the driver told BI. "The car lunged at him, and all I could do was stomp on the brakes." They said the trainer was pleased by the incident. "He told me, 'That was perfect.' That was exactly what they wanted me to do."The driver added that "it felt like the goal was almost to simulate a hit-or-miss accident and then prevent it at the last second."The former Autopilot engineer said it was better for training to see whether the software could correct itself. They also said that not intervening when the car acted abnormally — including veering into another lane or doing something that confuses another driver — was important for training. Human motorists don't always drive rationally, they explained, and the software needs to know how to respond. It's also easier to parse the data if there are fewer driver interventions, they said."At the critical juncture where it's about to make the key decision," they said, it's helpful to see whether the software makes the right or wrong call. "We want the data to know what led the car to that decision," the engineer said. "If you keep intervening too early, we don't really get to the exact moment where we're like, OK, we understand what happened."<h2 id="52098605-f887-4702-a6ab-cf47e173ce28">A 'Wild West' with little regulation</h2>Tesla is one of many automakers attempting to make autonomous vehicles a reality. Waymo, backed by Alphabet, launched the first driverless taxi service in Phoenix in 2020."In many ways, it's like the Wild West out there," said Cummings, the former NHTSA safety advisor. "There is very little regulation around training or informing the public about testing."The stakes of data collection on public roads are high. In 2018, a self-driving Uber with a person behind the wheel struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona. Cruise paused testing after one of its driverless vehicles hit a pedestrian in October 2023. Another vehicle had already hit the pedestrian when the Cruise car struck her, dragging her 20 feet before stopping. It <a target="_blank" href="https://www.getcruise.com/news/blog/2024/cruise-resumes-manual-driving-as-next-step-in-return-to-driverless-mission/">resumed testing</a> with safety drivers in some cities in May.<div type="image" title="waymo self driving taxi interior with pedestrians outside" height="4000" width="6000" msid="114814077" hostid="261" sizebytes="568560"></div>Two former Waymo employees said that they had a team similar to Tesla's critical-intervention team but that Waymo's version of critical-intervention testing was limited to closed tracks with dummies. Two former Cruise employees said that they had mapping teams and teams that tested on closed courses and public roads but that, unlike at Tesla, those teams were instructed to take over as soon as the software went off track, and they typically tested with at least two people in the car.A Waymo spokesperson said the company's safety framework included rigorous testing in controlled environments and on public roads. A Cruise spokesperson said the company's vehicles were designed as fully autonomous systems and were therefore fundamentally different from Tesla's driver-assistance technologies.Philip Koopman, an autonomous-driving expert at Carnegie Mellon University, said that Tesla's critical-intervention approach, as described to him by BI, was "irresponsible" and that the company should be playing out all "critical scenarios" on a closed course."By allowing the software to continue misbehaving to the point a test driver needs to avoid a crash, Tesla would be imposing a risk on other road users who have not agreed to serve as test subjects," Koopman said.Alex Roy, a general partner at NIVC and a former director of operations at the autonomous-driving startup Argo AI, said companies should be correcting the software as soon as it strays from the course, particularly on public roads."You should play those mistakes out in a simulation, not on an open road," Roy said. "Real-world testing is necessary, but real-world mistakes are not." The former Tesla engineer said they doubted that computer simulations are sophisticated enough to replicate the data generated by real-world driving. The former engineer said that, to help the software improve, it was best for test drivers to avoid intervening whenever possible."If you have a parent that's holding the bike the entire time, it never gets to learn," the engineer said.Test drivers on Project Rodeo felt this keenly."You're pretty much running on adrenaline the entire eight-hour shift," one former test driver in the Southwest said. "There's this feeling that you're on the edge of something going seriously wrong."Do you work for Tesla or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email and device at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:gkay@businessinsider.com">gkay@businessinsider.com</a> or <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link">248-894-6012</a>.

Inside 'Project Rodeo,' the Tesla effort pushing the limits of self-driving technology

Encouraged by volume growth, margin improvement and recovery in rural sales, India's top fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are now back to their normal growth cycle as they step up investments as well as spending on advertising and marketing. <keyword id="84065" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fmcg-companies" source="Orion">FMCG companies</keyword> are chasing volume growth again after a gap of a few quarters, offering higher grammage and price cuts thanks to inflationary pressures softening on key raw materials for everything from soaps to food items. Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Dabur, Marico, Godrej Consumer Products, ITC, Tata Consumer Products and Nestle reported volume recovery in the March quarter and said they expect a gradual pickup in consumption in FY24. "The prospects of a sustained recovery have strengthened. After five quarters of volume decline, the sector has posted volume growth," Marico MD and CEO Saugata Gupta said in the company's earnings conference call. "Urban consumption has been steady while rural is showing some convincing signs of having bottomed out." Foods continue to drive growth for the sector, while the home and personal care segment also entered positive territory after an extended slowdown. Marico, which owns popular brands like Saffola, Parachute and Livon, reported an 18.7 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 305 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2023 while sales rose 3.65 per cent to Rs 2,240 crore, driven by single-digit volume growth and moderation in commodity prices. HUL said rural areas have shown improvement with higher value growth sequentially. While HUL's volumes continue to fall, the extent of decline has reduced versus last quarter. "The slowdown in the FMCG market is bottoming out. This improvement was led by volumes, which have turned flat in this quarter, versus a mid-single-digit decline in the December quarter," said HUL CFO Ritesh Tiwari in its earnings call. The makers of popular brands such as Rin, Lux, Surf Excel and Pond's said it expects the price-volume growth to rebalance further. "We expect volumes to recover gradually due to high levels of cumulative inflation and the fact that consumption habits typically recover with a lag," he said. For the March quarter, HUL reported an increase of 12.74 per cent in its consolidated net profit to Rs 2,601 crore. Net sales rose 10.83 per cent to Rs 14,926 crore. However, HUL warned the near-term operating environment is likely to remain volatile due to global slowdown risk and uncertainty related to weather phenomena like El Nino and heatwaves. Abneesh Roy, Nuvama Group Executive Director for Institutional Equities, said the outlook for the <keyword id="495979" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fmcg-industry" source="Orion">FMCG industry</keyword> was "positive" with volume growth and improvement in margins for most companies in FY24. "As raw material prices are cooling off, companies shall start paring prices via grammage increase or gradual price reductions. Price growth shall ease while volume growth will improve," he said. Roy also cautioned about the impact of El Nino and the "aggression" from billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd, a known disrupter, which aims to be a big player in the USD 110-billion FMCG segment. Meanwhile, Godrej Consumer reported an 11.47 per cent increase in its India revenue to Rs 1,822.92 crore in the March quarter. This was led by volume growth of 11 per cent. Its home care segment, which consists of household insecticides and air fresheners, grew 14 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively. "We expect to build on the current momentum and deliver volume-led growth along with upfront marketing investments and improvement in profitability," said its Managing Director and CEO Sudhir Sitapati. Britannia Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Varun Berry also expressed optimism. "Volume growth will be certainly much better than this year," he said. On commodity prices, Berry said there is deflation in prices of palm oil, laminates and corrugated material for packing but flour and milk prices are soaring. "There are certain brands and certain packs where we have already initiated price reductions or promotions," he said. In the March quarter, Britannia reported a 47.53 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 557.60 crore. Its revenue from operations rose 10.93 per cent to Rs 3,892.02. Similarly, Dabur reported volume growth of 11 per cent during the March quarter and 14 per cent for FY23. Its quarterly net profit was Rs 292.76 crore and revenue from operations stood at Rs 2,677.8 crore. "Despite near-term concerns around inflationary pressures, we plan to accelerate the growth momentum by continuing to invest in brand building, innovation, and capabilities that will drive growth," said Dabur India CEO Mohit Malhotra. Other companies also recorded growth. ITC's revenue from the FMCG segment rose 19.34 per cent to Rs 4,951.17 crore from Rs 4,148.62 crore while EBITDA jumped 76 per cent. Nestle, the maker of Maggi, Kitkat and Nescafe, reported an increase of 24.69 per cent in its net profit to Rs 736.64 crore in the March quarter. Sales rose 20.43 per cent to Rs 4,808.40 crore. Tata Consumer reported a 21.12 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 289.56 crore. Its revenue from operations was up 13.96 per cent at Rs 3,618.73 crore. Tata Consumer said it recorded growth in the India beverages business and food. It had a "strong margin growth and strong topline growth driven both by volume and price," the company said in its earnings call. "We have started seeing volume growth coming back. The impact of inflation and monetary tightening on economic growth and demand seems to be slowing down, but I would keep my fingers crossed and monitor it closely," said Tata Consumer MD and CEO Sunil D'Souza. "In the near term, we are seeing stability." SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/zomato-net-loss-narrows-to-188-crore-in-q4-revenue-rises-70-yoy/articleshow/100358894.cms">Zomato net loss narrows to ₹188 crore in Q4, revenue rises 70% YoY</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/mankind-pharma-pnb-among-stocks-to-become-largecap-from-midcap-mutibagger-rail-vikas-nigam-to-turn-midcap-from-smallcap/articleshow/100356527.cms">Mankind Pharma, PNB among stocks to become largecap from midcap; mutibagger Rail Vikas Nigam to turn midcap from smallcap</a>

FMCG makers expect sustained recovery in volume and margins with price reduction in FY24

Last Christmas, my partner's parents made an extremely generous offer: We'd been sleeping on a luxuriously cooling, king-size Zinus mattress whenever we visited, and they asked whether we wanted one of our own. The only thing we needed to do was pick a bed frame. Easy, right?Our first thought was to head to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ikea-cut-prices-deflation-red-sea-shipping-crisis-inflation-greedflation-2024-1">Ikea</a> and purchase our current bed frame in a bigger size, but it was out of stock, so <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/luxury-retail-ecommerce-online-sales-stores-wealth-the-realreal-2024-7">we turned to the internet</a>. Searching "wooden bedframe" on the furniture <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wayfairs-opens-first-ever-physical-store-take-a-look-2024-6">e-commerce store Wayfair</a>, whose tagline is "every style, every home," yielded over 13,000 results. Amazon gave us a smaller but not particularly more manageable 6,000, with sponsored or "trending" bed frames that weren't in our price range — or made of wood at all — frequently front-loaded. The task was daunting.We spent hours at a time clicking between product pages and toggling between search parameters, but none of the options ever lined up. Eventually, buying a new bed frame began to feel like a part-time job that neither of us had time for. Almost a year later, we're still crowding into our old, sagging queen with two dogs and a cat.We aren't the only people feeling paralyzed by making a purchase: On the Reddit forum r/Mattress, person after person complains of the time they have spent navigating a maze of distinctions, like "cooling" and "ultracooling," "medium" and "medium firm," or "memory foam" and "hybrid." For some, the task of buying a mattress was too much: "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Mattress/comments/194n1c5/the_mattress_industry_destroyed_me_emotionally/">The mattress industry destroyed me emotionally and spiritually</a>," one post read. "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Mattress/comments/1chv833/this_is_ruining_my_life_just_tell_me_what_the/">This is ruining my life</a>," someone else wrote.It's not just big, life-altering purchases, either: In a recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/consulting/consumer-goods-cutting-through-noise">Accenture survey</a> of 19,000 consumers around the world, 74% of respondents said that they had abandoned an online shopping cart at least once in the past three months because they felt "bombarded by content, overwhelmed by choice and frustrated by the amount of effort they need to put in to making decisions." This inability to commit to a purchase was reported by people shopping for clothes (79%), flights (72%), and even snacks (70%).Barry Schwartz, a Swarthmore College psychology professor, famously called this the "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-too-many-choices-are-screwing-us-up-2016-11">paradox of choice</a>": While having a wider variety of choices can initially make us happier, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-paradox-of-choice-could-explain-why-youre-still-single-2018-2">the more options we have</a>, the harder it can be to choose the best one for us.Schwartz's 2006 book drew inspiration from <a target="_blank" href="https://faculty.washington.edu/jdb/345/345%20Articles/Iyengar%20%26%20Lepper%20(2000).pdf">a study</a> that found that shoppers in a grocery store were 10 times as likely to purchase jam after sampling from a display of six jam varieties than they were from a sampling of 24. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quit-social-media-online-shopping-30-days-regain-control-productivity-2024-7">Online shopping</a>, which the US Census Bureau estimates accounts for roughly 16% of all retail sales, theoretically makes it easier to find exactly what we are looking for. But it also takes the jam problem and multiplies it by several orders of magnitude: We're inundated with hundreds and thousands of choices. With so much information about those choices, it sometimes can feel impossible to go on. What's more, experts say that many of the tools we rely on to help us sift through all of this information — from product descriptions to search engines to e-commerce filters — may actually be making the process even harder.The golden age of comparison shopping isn't so golden after all.The internet changed not just how we shop but also the number of options retailers can offer. Superstores that used to be limited by their square footage <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/warehouse-nation-boom-ecommerce-jobs-2022-10">could now fill warehouses</a> with thousands of items that would ship straight to customers' doorsteps. As a result, the retail landscape began to lean toward larger stores with more options.Jason Goldberg, the chief commerce-strategy officer of Publicis Groupe, said "category killers" like PetSmart and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-tumultuous-history-of-toys-r-us-photos-2020-8">Toys "R" Us</a> outcompeted the neighborhood mom-and-pop pet and toy stores of yesteryear — only to find themselves losing out to stores with even bigger inventories, such as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-q3-earnings-shoppers-cheaper-items-high-frequency-good-business-2024-11">Amazon</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-stock-price-sam-walton-family-wealth-billionaires-retail-strategy-2024-10">Walmart</a>. "In the history of retail, businesses with larger assortments have come in, and they've won out over businesses with small assortments," he said.Shoppers, it turns out, love the convenience of the one-stop shop. But that has left us with an ever-increasing number of options. "Amazon's doing what we think the American dream is, which is, have all the choice in the world," Jessecae Marsh, a professor of psychology at Lehigh University, told me. "But choice can be paralyzing." Part of the problem, Marsh said, comes down to the way our brain makes choices. When shopping, we typically start by looking for ways to narrow down the set of choices, such as by filtering out things we can't afford or that aren't the size we want. Then we look for a reason to pick one of the remaining items over the others. "When we try to make decisions, we want a reason behind the decision," she said.This helps explain why ratings and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/insider-reviews-expertise-in-product-reviews">reviews</a> have become such a popular feature on online marketplaces: When we're comparing two similar items, we need to find a piece of information that breaks the tie. A higher star rating, or a slate of glowing reviews from other customers, can be enough to do the trick. The trouble is that having more information at our disposal isn't always helpful. And sometimes, it can render decision-making more difficult.In a <a target="_blank" href="https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-023-00509-7">series of experiments</a> testing how the presence of diagrams influenced people's ability to correctly answer questions about topics like managing body weight, Marsh and Samantha Kleinberg, a professor of computer science at the Stevens Institute of Technology, found that while some guiding information could be helpful, too much information made picking the right answer almost as difficult as if the participants had received no guiding information at all. While the study, published last year in Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, didn't focus on shopping, their results suggested that the more information we wade through when we're trying to make a decision, the more likely we are to come across something that conflicts with our beliefs, which complicates the decision-making process."If you've tried an Oil of Olay moisturizer, and you had a reaction to it, but you're seeing website over website telling you that's the best one, you're now in a position where the information that you're getting doesn't match information that you hold in your own head," Marsh said. "That conflict is always going to be hard for people because they don't exactly know how to resolve it."It doesn't help that the tools we use to reduce overwhelm may actually make things even more daunting. Raluca Ursu, an associate professor of marketing at New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business, told me that tools like filtering, sorting, and using recommendations could bog us down by revealing new factors to investigate, which leads people to search more — and, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25674430">research has found</a>, be less satisfied with their choices. Search engines such as Google, which present options in a ranked list, <a target="_blank" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1509/jmr.09.0481?journalCode=mrja">can also lead</a> to a "maximizer" mindset. "Consumers start to believe they can find 'the best option' out there, which can then lead to additional stress and decision paralysis," Ursu told me. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/search-web-email-google-streaming-online-shopping-broken-2022-4">decline of Google Search</a> probably doesn't help matters, either.Ursu has studied two factors in shopping: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/document/2022-01/SearchGaps_UrsuZhangHonka_Dec2021.pdf">search costs and search fatigue</a>. "Search costs generally reflect the time and effort consumers require to obtain information about a product," she said via email. "How difficult is it to determine this TV's price and technical specifications?" While search costs are typically much smaller online than they are IRL, where you have to jump in a car and drive to a store, search fatigue grows when shopping online because there's more information available and more options to sift through. Ursu guessed that the most exhausting stage of shopping is comparison shopping — when people pore over minuscule details between products to find the best one.If people <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/online-shopping-coping-mechanism-target-pandemic-2021-3">abandon their shopping carts</a> because they get overwhelmed by search fatigue, it can come back to bite retailers. In a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/document/2022-01/SearchGaps_UrsuZhangHonka_Dec2021.pdf">study</a> that looked at browsing data from clothing shoppers in the Netherlands, Ursu and her fellow researchers Qianyun Zhang and Elisabeth Honka found that reducing search fatigue by half led to a slight increase in transactions. They also found that search fatigue tended to affect smaller retailers more than larger ones since people tend to spend all their energy shopping at larger stores first.In fashion, perhaps no company embodies the paradox of choice more than <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stitch-fix-subscription-clothes-review-work-from-home-2021-9">Stitch Fix</a>, which launched in 2011 with a counterintuitive business model: People who didn't have the time or patience to shop could undergo a virtual consultation with one of the firm's in-house stylists, then receive a subscription box filled with a selection of items that had been handpicked for them. It worked: By 2017, the company had gone public at a valuation of $1.4 billion, only to surge to a $11 billion market cap in early 2021, when many customers were holed up at home."Having someone do that front-loaded effort, that seems really valuable," Marsh said. It's the same thing we would do by bringing a contractor into a house to ask, "What are the options here to expand this bathroom?" After lockdowns ended, the company decided to introduce an option where customers could shop for individual items from categories like "jeans," "Lauren Ralph Lauren," and "workwear under $80." But since that pivot away from its core business, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stitch-fix-stylists-say-role-company-is-losing-flexibility-2021-8">the company has been losing customers</a> every year. Today, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/sfix-stock">Stitch Fix is valued at $400 million</a>, just a fraction of its market cap at its 2017 initial public offering. Goldberg, the chief commerce-strategy officer, said it's possible that the company's struggles are due to macro factors, like subscription fatigue and a sales slowdown in the clothes business. "Twenty years ago, you spent 6% of your budget on clothes; today, you spend 3% of your budget on clothes," he said. "People used to buy Stitch Fix for clothes to wear to work. You know what people don't do anymore?" Still, the company's decline raises an important point about the value of curation.Short of changing their business models, companies can make things easier on shoppers by simplifying their site designs, reducing friction during checkout, and keeping extraneous information to a minimum. Offering shoppers more personalized search results is another big piece of the puzzle, and the experts I spoke to say <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-amazon-is-using-ai-from-rufus-to-movie-recommendations-2024-7">artificial intelligence may be able to help us</a> winnow our choices down — that's the guiding idea behind <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-amazon-ai-shopping-assistant-rufus-is-like-2024-7">Rufus, a new conversational chatbot</a> from Amazon that answers questions and makes product recommendations. Of course, there's the danger AI <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-scam-spam-hacking-ruining-internet-chatgpt-privacy-misinformation-2023-8">will overwhelm us with spam and slop</a> first.As Marsh sees it, though, the most important thing is shoppers getting to a place where they're dealing with fewer options, even if they believe that more is better. "Whatever people think they want, they should have something a little bit less than that," she said. Marsh recommended researching a category and figuring out what product attributes matter most to you before you start shopping. She also suggested turning the decision over to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides">a consumer guide</a>, a retailer quiz, or someone who has tried a product before you. Many people already do this with<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-luxury-perfume-obsession-tiktok-fragrance-teen-boys-branding-2024-10"> beauty influencers</a>: If you have a similar skin or hair type to someone, seeing what works and what doesn't for them can help narrow down your choices.Still, deciding what to buy can be excruciating — even for people who study decision-making for a living. Recently, after an "extremely overwhelming" experience selecting a bed frame for her own house on Wayfair, Marsh said she realized she was going to need a new rug. "I started looking through the options, and I was like, 'I just can't,'" she told me. "We're going to have to go to a store. I just can't do it again."<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/emilie-friedlander">Emilie Friedlander</a> is a journalist and editor from Brooklyn, currently based in Philadelphia. She co-hosts <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://theculturejournalist.substack.com/">The Culture Journalist</a>, a podcast about culture in the age of platforms.

'I just can't': Why so many consumers are sick and tired of online shopping

<ul class="summary-list"><li>AI is gaining popularity among product managers and being used by companies like PepsiCo and Toyota.</li><li>Generative AI can be used to brainstorm product ideas or assist in creating marketing materials.</li></ul>The work of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/break-into-tech-product-manager-skills-experience-2022-2">product managers</a> centers on understanding what consumers want, creating items that meet those needs, and ultimately driving sales for their companies.To help, many are embracing generative artificial intelligence to sift through troves of data, analyze it, and extract insights that can help them <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-economic-potential-of-generative-ai-the-next-productivity-frontier#introduction">develop products more quickly and with stronger appeal</a>."At a high level, it's taking big data on consumers — demographics, their values — and trying to match them with product designs," <a target="_blank" href="https://som.yale.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/alex-burnap">Alex Burnap</a>, an assistant professor of marketing at the Yale School of Management, told Business Insider.Burnap said AI can also be used to predict which product features and <a target="_blank" href="https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/mksc.2022.1429">designs will be most attractive</a> and are likely to generate profits. Burnap's research includes developing machine-learning algorithms that can understand customer needs and translate them into product features. He's also been a consultant for startups and major companies, including General Motors.Several companies, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-magazine/issues/2023/december/columns/ai-advances-product-development">consumer-packaged-goods brands</a> like PepsiCo and Kraft Heinz and automakers such as <a target="_blank" href="https://pressroom.toyota.com/toyota-and-generative-ai-its-here-and-this-is-how-were-using-it/">Toyota</a>, are already using AI to support product development.The technology's use in product development, Burnap said, will advance as it creates efficiencies in product managers' tasks and helps them develop products that boost business.BI spoke with Burnap about what companies need to know about AI to understand consumers and inform product design.The following has been edited for clarity and length.How can companies use AI to understand consumers' needs and wants and design products accordingly?There's been a lot of research into how to identify customer needs — or missing needs or market opportunities — to come up with new products that we didn't catch before. The early work looks very successful.For example, using a tailored version of ChatGPT to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/artificial-intelligence-helping-amazon-shopify-sellers-2023-11">search through all Amazon reviews</a> in a particular product category to search for reviews that say, "Hey, this product was great, but it could have been blah, blah, blah."It's absolutely being used to elicit customer needs, and I think we'll keep seeing work in that area.How can companies use this information to inform product design and development?The product-design life cycle starts with the initial idea of a product people might want. It goes through different design stages, engineering, and manufacturing until it's launched, and then you're <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ways-advertisers-are-using-generative-ai-for-creative-campaigns-2024-5">marketing it</a> with ads.In almost every one of those stages, there's some role for generative-AI models. One is the very early stage of figuring out what people really want. That will continue to make advances.These models will continue to help designers augment product development. Full automation could be challenging because you still need a lot of intrinsic human creativity, at least in the very early design process.<div type="image" title="TK" height="2560" width="3413" msid="111691383" hostid="261" sizebytes="113558"></div>One of the advances we'll see initially for successful product design is on the back end, the marketing side: coming up with ads telling people what's out there and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-artificial-intelligence-is-used-in-marketing-strategy-2024-5">personalizing ads</a> to the exact tastes of the user.Personalization is the big difference with a lot of models. The current paradigm of serving ads is very scalable. Think of companies like Google AdWords; they're very good at taking ads created by publishers and targeting the right customer. We'll start to see advertisers not just target existing ads but generate ads personalized to you.What advice do you have for corporate leaders considering using AI for product development?First, consider if you actually need generative AI. In the product-design world, we say, is this a technology push or an actual need that AI can help you solve?Companies need to understand the actual customer needs. If product managers are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1">using ChatGPT</a>, is it helping them understand customer needs that have been missed? A lot of questions are not super clear unless you pilot-test them.Then, think through whether to use your own engineers and data scientists to come up with AI models or existing services, like ChatGPT. Weigh the pros, cons, and limitations of each.Companies also must <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-artificial-intelligence-customer-experience-business-applications-2024-5">establish best practices</a> and consider the risks and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-artificial-intelligence-intellectual-property-will-affect-marketing-2024-6">regulatory constraints</a> around using AI, depending on the industry. And are those risks worth the benefits that you think it will bring?

AI can power better product development based on consumer needs, says Yale marketing professor

<keyword id="152630" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="godrej-consumer-products-ltd" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="godrej consumer products ltd" meta.entityname="Godrej Consumer Products Ltd." meta.entityid="1908" meta.seoname="godrej-consumer-products-ltd">Godrej Consumer Products Ltd</keyword> on Tuesday reported a 3.55 per cent rise in <keyword id="1009537" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="consolidated" source="Orion">consolidated</keyword> profit after tax at Rs 546.34 crore in the third quarter that ended December 31, 2022. The company had posted a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 527.6 crore in the same period last fiscal, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) said in a regulatory filing. Consolidated total revenue from operations during the quarter under review stood at Rs 3,598.92 crore as against Rs 3,302.58 crore in the year-ago period, it added. Total expenses were higher at Rs 2,969.52 crore as compared to Rs 2,714.32 crore in the same quarter a year ago, the company said. "We delivered an all-round performance in 3Q FY 2023. Overall sales grew by 9 per cent and we witnessed a sharp sequential uplift in underlying volume growth," GCPL Managing Director and CEO <keyword id="1557780" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sudhir-sitapati" source="Orion">Sudhir Sitapati</keyword> said. The company had broad-based growth across geographies with India delivering double-digit sales growth of 11 per cent, he said, adding <keyword id="12925" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="africa" source="Orion">Africa</keyword>, USA and <keyword id="30350" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="middle-east" source="Orion">Middle East</keyword> business continued its strong growth trajectory, growing at 14 per cent in rupee terms and 23 per cent in constant currency terms. "Performance in our Indonesian business is gradually recovering, declining by 3 per cent in rupee and constant currency terms," Sitapati added. On the outlook, he said, "With commodity pressures abating, we expect a gradual recovery in consumption, expansion in gross margins, upfront marketing investments with a significant focus on reducing controllable costs and improvement in profitability in the coming quarters." GCPL continues to have a healthy balance sheet and is also net cash positive, Sitapati said, adding, "we are on track in our journey to reduce inventory and wasted cost and are deploying this to drive profitable and sustainable volume growth across our portfolio through category development." SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rupee-may-remain-under-depreciation-pressure-says-economic-survey/articleshow/97484894.cms">Rupee may remain under depreciation pressure, says Economic Survey</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/to-not-police-childrens-creativity-moms-create-child-friendly-art-products-find-investors-on-shark-tank-india/articleshow/97480472.cms">To not ‘police’ children’s creativity, moms create child-friendly art products &amp; find investors on Shark Tank India</a>

Godrej Consumer Products Q3 profit rises 3.5% to ₹546 crore

New Delhi [<keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword>], February 12 (ANI): India's demand for petroleum products is likely to increase by a mid-single-digit percentage in the financial year ending March 2024, following a 10 per cent post-pandemic recovery in 2022-23, according to <keyword id="19949381" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fitch-ratings" source="keywords">Fitch Ratings</keyword>. Both petrol and diesel sales recorded robust 4-6 per cent increases in the first nine months of 2023-24, fuelled by heightened economic activities in the agriculture and power sectors, coupled with a surge in holiday travel and auto sales. Fitch said it expects Indian refiners' gross refining margins (GRM) to moderate during 2024-25 from the strong levels expected in 2023-24, but remain above mid-cycle levels. By 2025-26, it foresees a shift closer to mid-cycle levels, but remaining resilient, bolstered by the escalating demand for end-products. "The gradual normalisation of the crude supply mix away from Russian imports is likely to narrow GRMs, although we expect margins to stay strong, supported by the rising demand for end-products," the rating agency said. In the upstream segment, domestic oil and gas production has modestly increased, driven by a 5 per cent rise in gas production in the first nine months of 2023-24. "We expect production to continue to rise moderately as technological investments in enhanced oil recovery techniques will offset natural declines," the rating agency said. Fitch forecasts the oil and gas sector's high capex intensity to continue in the medium term, particularly with upstream companies investing in production enhancement. In the downstream segment, <keyword id="20039004" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hindustan-petroleum-corporation-limited" source="keywords">Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited</keyword> should maintain higher capex due to planned investments by its subsidiary, HPCL <keyword id="20521636" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rajasthan-refinery-limited" source="keywords">Rajasthan Refinery Limited</keyword>. The capex of other oil marketing companies, including HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited, should be minimal as they have completed their expansion projects, it said. India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, is dependent on crude oil from various sources in the global market to meet its domestic demand. (ANI)

India's petroleum products demand to increase mid-single-digit percentage in 2023-24: Fitch

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Oprah endorsed Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses in her holiday gift list.</li><li>The "Oprah Effect," a phenomenon associated with Winfrey, could make the glasses even more popular.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-new-ray-ban-smart-glasses-apple-vision-pro-2024-9">Meta's smart glasses</a> are already outperforming expectations, and they just won a powerful endorsement as the holiday season kicks off.Oprah Winfrey listed the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/a62333557/oprahs-favorite-things-2024/">"Oprah's Favorite Things 2024,"</a> her annual gift guide on her digital platform called Oprah Daily."The gift of the season! I'll be giving these to lots of folks this year. Ray-Ban and Meta's newest glasses can tell you what you're looking at in a new city, translate a menu from a foreign language, play music, snap photos, take a phone call, and more," Winfrey said, linking to the glasses on Amazon and Meta.Products Winfrey recommends typically benefit from a surge in sales and popularity, a phenomenon dubbed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oprah-winfrey-left-ww-sent-stock-spiraling-spells-doom-diets-2024-2">the "Oprah Effect."</a>It may provide another boost to the wave of success that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-new-ray-ban-smart-glasses-apple-vision-pro-2024-9">Meta's smart glasses</a> have already seen.In <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-stock-earnings-report-call-live-updates-2024-10">Meta's earnings call</a> this week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the glasses continue to see strong consumer demand. He previously said they were "a bigger hit sooner than we expected," something he touched on again during the earnings call."I continue to think that glasses are the ideal form factor for AI because you can let your AI see what you see, hear what you hear, and talk to you," Zuckerberg said. "Demand for the glasses continues to be very strong."He pointed to a limited-edition clear version of the glasses, which became available during <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-ray-bans-have-new-features-smart-glasses-2024-9">Meta's product launch</a> in September. The glasses, originally listed for $429, are reselling online at over $1,000, Zuckerberg said.Susan Li, Meta's chief financial officer, said during the earnings call that the company had already "evolved our roadmaps" to respond to the quick success of the glasses and would be "investing appropriately behind the consumer momentum that we see."Francesco Milleri, the CEO at EssilorLuxottica, which makes Ray-Bans, told the Financial Times that he thinks smart glasses will replace smartphones in popularity.In terms of popularity, at least, Winfrey seemed to agree. She listed the smart glasses as the ideal gift for "the traveler, the techie, and the trendsetter."

Oprah just favorited Meta's Ray-Ban glasses in the latest sign the product is taking off

<ul><li><keyword id="19895203" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="electric-vehicles" source="keywords">Electric vehicles</keyword> (EVs) are gaining popularity worldwide</li><li>However, concerns remain about their environmental impact</li><li> <keyword id="21881868" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="alternative-fuel" source="keywords">Alternative fuel</keyword> vehicles like hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels are some more alternatives we can tap into</li></ul> Electric vehicles or EVs are in their prime right now, with the demand crossing an all-time high. A trend noticeable around the world, EVs are not only becoming increasingly popular but also fairly affordable. Slowly but surely EVs are overcoming the challenges that crossed them — design, features, safety, and most importantly range. A major credit to this trend can be given to consumer acceptance, policy backing, and improving infrastructure. However, there is a downside to EVs as well. Having featured multiple EVs with our series<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCR3PaYxcmk&amp;t=1s" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank"> Short Spin, </a>I developed a strong reference point. This made me wonder why are we so heavily reliant on them. Over its life cycle, EVs cannot be termed as particularly environmentally friendly, which has been their main selling point over the past few decades. <h2>The ‘Red’ side of EVs</h2> There is a bit of red within the go-green agenda that EV manufacturers push. EVs as a whole do come with benefits like low maintenance, improved efficiency and ultimately lower fuel emissions. However, <keyword id="21357488" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="EV-production" source="keywords">EV production</keyword> and disposal can have detrimental effects on the natural environment. Here are some socio-ecological concerns over EVs: 1. High carbon footprint in battery production: EV battery production is energy-intensive and often relies on electricity from fossil fuels, leading to a high initial carbon footprint. This is elaborated in a story recently published by Earth Org. 2. Resource constraints and ethical concerns: Particularly with the extensive mining of cobalt and other minerals for EVs, there has been a global outcry. Limited availability of critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, shady mining practices long work hours, unsafe work environments, and use of child labour in underdeveloped parts of the world have raised several ethical issues around the sustainability of EVs. This issue can be explored further in this essay by Al Jazeera. 3. Recycling and end-of-life challenges: EV battery recycling is currently inefficient, costly, and poses significant environmental risks, with a huge amount of batteries ending up in landfills. 4. Manufacturing costs and economic barriers: High production costs, especially for batteries, make EVs more expensive than conventional vehicles and require significant investments in new manufacturing facilities and supply chains. 5. Supply chain and geopolitical risks: Critical mineral resources necessary for EV production are concentrated in a few countries. This leads to vulnerabilities in the complex supply chain and often risks disruptions due to geopolitical tensions, trade conflicts, or natural disasters. China as of today controls 83% of EV battery production in the world, with a major stronghold on the supply chain. While I am in no way suggesting to drop out of EVs, I believe sticking to just one alternative risks replicating the same mistake we did for ICE vehicles. So, what are the alternatives? <h2>The alternates fuel vehicles (<keyword id="23193800" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AFVs" source="keywords">AFVs</keyword>)</h2> AFVs are a growing segment of the automotive industry that utilize fuels other than traditional gasoline or diesel. These vehicles offer similar potential benefits such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improved air quality, and reduced dependence on fossil fuels. While EVs are also a form of AFVs, here we will list out other major alternatives like hydrogen fuel and biofuel options. Hydrogen fuel cells: Convert hydrogen gas into electricity, emitting only water vapour. Currently, <keyword id="19906788" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Toyota" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Toyota" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Toyota">Toyota</keyword> and Hyundai are the only hydrogen-based cars in the Indian market. Hydrogen internal combustion engines: These vehicles use hydrogen as a fuel in modified combustion engines. While road-legal vehicles for this fuel type aren’t out, BMW with hydrogen 7 is working on a prototype. Ethanol: This is a renewable fuel made from plant materials, commonly mixed with gasoline. In America, Ford F-150 Flex-Fuel and Chevrolet Silverado Flex-Fuel are utilizing this technology. Biodiesel and renewable diesel: Derived from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled grease, these fuel types can be used in diesel engines. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG): Perhaps the most famous alternative for cabbies in Delhi, CNG is in popular demand. Technically it is used in specially modified internal combustion engines, primarily for lower emissions. Propane (Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG): A byproduct of natural gas processing and crude oil refining, used in internal combustion engines. As technology continues to advance, these AFVs are becoming more accessible and affordable, making them a promising option for sustainable transportation. If you are an eco-conscious buyer in today’s auto market, bear in mind that there are options beyond EVs as well. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/mercedes-expands-bev-range-rolls-out-second-locally-produced-model-in-india/articleshow/113388002.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Mercedes expands BEV range; rolls out second locally produced model in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/electric-two-wheeler-adoption-in-india-rising-13-share-expected-by-2026-27-jefferies/articleshow/113361787.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Electric two-wheeler adoption in India rising, 13% share expected by 2026-27: Jefferies</a>

EVs are not the only options for alternative fuel — make way for hydrogen and bio-fuel

<keyword id="10926" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="reliance" source="Orion">Reliance</keyword> Consumer Products Limited, the FMCG arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with Sri Lanka-headquartered <keyword id="16311795" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="maliban" source="Orion">Maliban</keyword> Biscuit Manufactories (Private) Limited (Maliban). Maliban, a biscuit manufacturer, is well known for last 70 years for its range of quality products including biscuits, crackers, cookies and wafers. In addition, the company has expanded its products reach to global markets and exports to over 35 countries across five continents. "With a leading market position, Maliban has deep-rooted heritage and credibility. With this strategic partnership between RCPL and Maliban, we will not only be strengthening our FMCG portfolio through a great brand but will also be able to offer an excellent value proposition through quality products to our Indian consumers," said <keyword id="617730" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="isha-ambani" source="Orion">Isha Ambani</keyword>, Executive Director, Reliance Retail Ventures, in a release. "Being the custodian of several widely known global brands in India, Reliance is well-positioned to further expand the excellent consumer equity and reach that Maliban has built over 70 years," Isha Ambsaid. The vision of Reliance's FMCG arm is to bring to Indian consumers a bouquet of domestic and globally recognised consumer brands and product choices that offer superior value proposition with exceptional quality. It launched its packaged consumer products brand, 'Independence' in December 2022 and is creating a distinct and dedicated retail distribution network for its fast-expanding FMCG portfolio. <keyword id="6865480" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rrvl" source="Orion">RRVL</keyword>, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, operates more than 16,500 own stores and partners with over 2 million merchants across Grocery, Electronics, Apparel, Pharmacy, lingerie, home and furnishing, beauty and personal care. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/godrej-consumer-products-q3-profit-rises-3-5-to-546-crore/articleshow/97485680.cms">Godrej Consumer Products Q3 profit rises 3.5% to ₹546 crore</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/india-emerged-as-global-ma-hotspot-in-2022-bain-company-report/articleshow/97490051.cms">India emerged as global M&amp;A hotspot in 2022: Bain &amp; Company report</a>

Reliance Consumer Products enters into strategic agreement with Sri Lankan biscuit maker Maliban

<keyword id="161914" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="godrej-agrovet" source="Orion">Godrej Agrovet</keyword> was allotted about 47,000 acres of land in Sangareddy district in Telangana for oil palm plantation, the company said in a release on Tuesday. Allocated by Telangana's Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (Horticulture and Sericulture), the allotted area will be utilized by the company to expand the cultivation of oil palm and set up processing units. Recently, Godrej Agrovet inaugurated an edible oil refinery at Chintalapudi in the Eluru district "We are delighted to receive additional district in the fresh allotment released by the Government of Telangana. It is a testimony of GAVL's commitment and efforts to boost oil palm plantations and promote farmer prosperity in the region. We would like to thank Government of Telangana for their support and commitment to this initiative which will benefit the farmers," said Balram Singh Yadav, Managing Director, Godrej Agrovet. The company has an expertise of more than three decades in the oil palm business. The Telangana government has set a target to extend the cultivation of oil palm across 20 lakh acres in the state. A total of ₹1,000 crore is proposed in the Budget for 2023-24 for oil palm cultivation. India is the world's second-largest consumer and number one <keyword id="451493" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vegetable-oil" source="Orion">vegetable oil</keyword> importer, and it meets 60% of its need through imports. A large part of it is palm oil and its derivatives, which are imported from Indonesia and Malaysia. Although oilseed production in India has grown over the years, the production has lagged behind its consumption, resulting in continuous dependence on imports.

Telangana govt allots Godrej Agrovet 47,000 acres for oil palm plantation

<ul><li><keyword id="4286690" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cinthol">Cinthol</keyword> has brought actor <keyword id="11186421" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="siddharth-suryanarayan">Siddharth Suryanarayan</keyword> onboard as the brand ambassador for <keyword id="11823038" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cinthol-health-plus">Cinthol Health Plus</keyword> soap.</li><li>A new Cinthol Health Plus TVC campaign #HaiTaiyaarHum featuring Siddharth has been conceptualized by <keyword id="312631" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Creativeland-Asia">Creativeland Asia</keyword>.</li></ul>Cinthol, the legacy brand from the <keyword id="464067" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Godrej-Consumer-Products-Limited">Godrej Consumer Products Limited</keyword> (GCPL), brought onboard actor Siddharth Suryanarayan, as the brand ambassador for Cinthol Health Plus soap. This association is to drive awareness about the health soap which provides 99.9% germ protection along with a pleasant deo fragrance. A new Cinthol Health Plus TVC campaign #HaiTaiyaarHum featuring Siddharth, conceptualized by Creativeland Asia, will also go live to highlight product features and increase visibility of the brand. <div type="Youtube" id="T5hJgnj2dmg" title="Cinthol Health+ ke saath #HaiTaiyaarHum" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/T5hJgnj2dmg/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Cinthol, as a brand, has always stood for the philosophy of ‘Alive is Awesome’. It encourages people to step outside their comfort zone, be adventurous and experience the thrill of outdoors in all its glory. Cinthol Health Plus is the new entrant in the Cinthol family. Popularly known for being strong, daring and honest, Siddharth is one of the celebrated actors in the country. This makes him the perfect choice for Cinthol Health Plus, which stands for fearless protection. Cinthol Health Plus symbolises being unafraid while taking on challenges and always prepared. This thought is showcased through the brand’s new #HaiTaiyaarHum campaign. Speaking about the collaboration, Siddharth said, “Cinthol is a legacy soap brand which I have personally used over the years. I will be endorsing Cinthol Health Plus which stands for fearless protection. Being objective, firm and brave are some of the qualities which defines me as a person. This is the reason I feel my collaboration with the brand makes complete sense. Cinthol Heath Plus soap has the power of 99.9% germ protection with an amazing deo fragrance, which makes you confident as you take on everyday challenges. Given the ongoing COVID-19 situation, Cinthol and I want to encourage people to continue answering our call of duty because we have the assurance of Cinthol Health Plus.” Commenting on the appointment of the brand ambassador, <keyword id="1107" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sunil-Kataria">Sunil Kataria</keyword> CEO - India and SAARC, <keyword id="6369697" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="godrej">Godrej</keyword> Consumer Products Limited, said, “Cinthol is amongst the iconic brands that we have from the house of Godrej. With our new partnership with Siddharth, we expect to disrupt our core markets and further strengthen the brand position. Together with Siddharth, we are bringing the messaging of taking on one’s duties fearlessly with the assurance of Cinthol. The new TVC anchored on fearless protection will bring alive Cinthol philosophy of Alive is Awesome in a unique way. Unlike other health soaps, Cinthol Health Plus delivers protection from germs without compromising on fragrance.” Cinthol Health Plus and Siddharth, aim to communicate how the soap safeguards you from bacteria and viruses. Being built on the strong association with protection outdoors, Cinthol Health Plus is a health soap that gives all-round protection with a refreshing fragrance, unlike other health soaps which smell “hospital like”.

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