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<ul><li>As the country continues to stay put and spend more time with their families, there is an increase in demand for snacks. </li><li><keyword id="5948549" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dilen-Gandhi">Dilen Gandhi</keyword>, Sr. Director and Category Head- Foods, <keyword id="110163" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="PepsiCo-India">PepsiCo India</keyword> tells us how difficult the lockdown period was for <keyword id="54572" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="PepsiCo">Pepsico</keyword>'s <keyword id="115385" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kurkure">Kurkure</keyword> and how it plans to leverage on the current rise in-home consumption for snacks.</li></ul>The pandemic-infused lockdown has affected consumers’ lifestyle and behaviours to a great extent. From what they watch to what they eat, consumers' priorities have completely changed. Albeit, it did bring along a silver lining as it gave them an opportunity to spend more quality time, reconnect and rediscover moments of togetherness with their families. Among many other things, the new normal has affected people’s snacking habits, which has now become more of a family bonding exercise than a personal activity. As a result, packaged food products like Lay’s and Kurkure -- that can be binged on while working, watching content or during weekend watch parties with your family -- have seen an uptick in demand for in-home consumption. PepsiCo’s Kurkure has not only seen its penetration in the country increase due to the lockdown, consumers are also ordering it more frequently and in larger packs. According to Kurkure’s recent study, 80% of the families surveyed have started snacking together. It has become a family bonding activity during these challenging times. To leverage the rising demand for in-home snacking, Kurkure launched a campaign earlier this month to capture how Indian families share an amazing bond in their own ‘atpata’ and ‘chatpata’ ways. <div type="Youtube" id="kf5UmRc3PYA" title="An Ode to Chatpati Indian Families | #ChatpataShukriya" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kf5UmRc3PYA/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Kurkure’s supply chain is also up and running now and has almost come to the normal levels to meet the demand. We caught up with Dilen Gandhi, Sr. Director and Category Head- Foods, PepsiCo India to understand what kind of changes has he observed in consumer behaviour during COVID, how is the snacking category evolving with time and what has adjusting in the new normal taught him. Experts: Q. We are living in unprecedented times today. How is Pepsico's Kurkure sailing through these challenging times? The nationwide lockdown imposed various challenges for businesses across industries. But with the world gradually coming back to normal, businesses and brands have been innovating and implementing new ways of working in today’s times. Changed consumer preferences led to an increase in demand of online deliveries, especially of food and other essentials. One of the key initiatives we took was to partner with delivery services such as Swiggy and Dunzo to meet in the increasing in home demand and support smaller business. Our associations with Swiggy and Dunzo, helped us deliver our products, such as Kurkure and LAY’S to our consumers. This further helped us strengthen our direct-to-home services. We have also been using this time to double-up on market research, helping us always have a finger on the pulse of our consumers. Our findings and internal surveys have helped shape our latest campaign, which aims to express gratitude towards Indian families for their continued support towards each other during difficult times. Kurkure’s latest campaign is an ode to the Indian families and thanks them for always being supportive, entertaining, and adding ‘masaledaar fun’ to each other’s lives. Q. What kind of changes in demand have you witnessed lately? As people have been adjusting to the ‘new normal’, in-home consumption has witnessed a significant uptake. We have witnessed a jump in both penetration and frequency of our food category. There has been a growing demand for our larger packs as in-home occasions have increased manifold. While the consumers are looking at in-home experiences and seeking convenience, they are also looking at value. We have also introduced various combo packs for our food portfolio creating and further driving in-home consumption. Q. How have you observed consumer behaviour changing during COVID in the snacking industry? The current situation requires brands to constantly evaluate the consumer experience and challenges being faced by them. During this time people sought moments of joy and togetherness with brands became the perfect companions in those moments. Several studies have shown that consumers are reassured by positive brand actions and commitments. This has underscored the need for the brands to be more purpose-driven than ever before. Thereby, making it essential to build genuine, empathetic, and transparent communication, which focuses on offering solutions rather than hard-core promotion. Besides Kurkure, even for LAY’S and Quaker our first communication was purpose-driven and the response we have received has been very encouraging. Q. How did you tweak your marketing strategy to resonate with the consumers in the current challenging situation? These unprecedented times gave rise to a ‘new-normal’ world and also altered the rules of a marketer’s playbook. Consumers today believe in brands that make a difference. A number of recent studies have shown that brands should not act alone – instead, they should join forces with others and contribute to the cause collaboratively. We are keeping a close eye on evolving trends of consumer behaviour and redefining our brand strategies accordingly. Keeping the above in mind, we launched Kurkure’s Thanks To Indian Families, wherein we leveraged increased in-home consumption and families spending more quality time together. Q. Your recent campaign tries to leverage on in-home consumption. Tell us a bit about why you decided to change your focus? What does your overall communication strategy look like now? Earlier this month, Kurkure launched a campaign to express gratitude towards millions of Indian families for their continued support and for entertaining each other in their own ‘atpata’ and ‘chatpata’ ways during these challenging times. The new campaign is based on three key insights. The cultural insight of how India has been known for its family - centric setup, the social insight - which recognizes the deepened bond, uptick in family time and increased connect between family members during the lockdown phase, and the consumer insight which identifies people's need to express themselves in fun and quirky ways. These insights fit well with Kurkure as the brand has always been about fun times with family in its trademark ‘quirky and full of masti’. It aims to capture the nuances of the relationship that all family members share with each other and celebrates how they have kept one another upbeat even during these times. Going forward, the strategy will be to continue leveraging insights and purpose-driven storytelling and communicating through a mix of channels, led by digital. Q. Is your supply chain up and running completely? Our Supply chains are very close to normal levels. All our food plants are functional at this point of time while maintaining the highest standards of safety. Q. Have you partnered with any e-comm players or delivery partners to bolster your sales? In the last few months, consumers have been seeking more from the safety of their homes which has contributed to the increased relevance of e-commerce platforms. Keeping the consumer’s requirements in mind, PepsiCo has strengthened its relationship with the e-Grocers like Big Basket, Amazon PepsiCo has partnered with Swiggy and Dunzo to ensure uninterrupted availability of our brands, such as Kurkure and LAY’S to consumers across locations. Our tie-up with Dunzo has been encouraging, with safe delivery-on-demand and fulfilling our promise of last-mile-delivery. We are now working in scaling the model and expanding it to other states. Q. Did you come up with any out-of-the-box solutions to adjust to the new normal? We have a big out of the box campaign announcement coming soon. Do watch out the space. Q. As a leader, what were your learnings from this time? As a marketing leader, these times have reinforced 2 central beliefs I’ve long held. Consumers will always reward brands who deliver to their needs – right now consumers are looking for brands to take actions that are authentic and true to the core of the brand. The other is that consumers are incredibly resilient and will look to brands that can share that positivity, albeit in a genuine manner.

Kurkure witnesses a jump in penetration and order frequency as in-home consumption rises

<ul><li>Lay’s Wafer Style mimics the crunchy papad to turn into a ‘meal must-have’</li><li>Lay’s will be adding to a long list of traditional South Indian snacks like murukku, banana chips and <keyword id="1871379" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="tapioca">tapioca</keyword> chips</li><li>They recently launched <keyword id="115385" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kurkure">Kurkure</keyword> Masala Munch with gingelly oil which is used in South India</li></ul><keyword id="54572" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="PepsiCo">PepsiCo</keyword> has built its Lay’s brand in India by experimenting with Indian flavours, adding in as many ‘local’ tastes as possible. During this process, the company discovered that they can bite into the South Indian market much easily as chips and wafers are a part of the meal, unlike anywhere else in the country. “Our Southern consumers love a delightful crunch and texture on their plate. Their meal is incomplete with the taste and crunch of the popular chilli or pepper papad,” explained Dilen Gandhi, Sr Director, Marketing – Foods category, PepsiCo India. The company launched a new product called Lay’s Wafer Style which mimics the crunchy papad, and turn into a ‘meal must-have’. Pepsi has decided to put more muscle into marketing and innovating in a growth market like India. This is one of the few markets for the global major, with ‘double digit’ growth, Pepsi said in its annual report. The company does not provide nation-wise growth numbers. Overall, the snacks business has been growing at 5% for the cola major, contributed heavily by growth in India and China. Tea-time to meal-time In South India, the market is wider and better. Everywhere else in the country, snacks are a tea-time affair but being an integral part of every meal can increase their volume and also regularize sales. Their latest venture is to supplant a traditional fried and homemade pappadam, and integrate into South Indian meals. “Lay’s Wafer Style will prove to be the perfect companion to their traditional Sambhar rice (lentil stew rice), Rasam Rice (soupy rice), Dal Rice (lentil rice), Curd Rice, Lemon (flavoured) rice, or Palak Pappu Rice (Spinach lentil rice),” said Gandhi. This product has been launched across a range of salt and chilly flavours. Many states, many flavours The South market is as broad as it is deep. The chips and snacks market is extremely fragmented with local brands at every nook and corner especially in South India. Lays will be adding to a long list of traditional snacks right from murukku to banana chips to tapioca chips amongst others. They will also have to compete with makers who has mastered the needs of the market for years. For this global player, these new products are a step in that direction, competing with the price and taste of a multitude of localized players. Pepsi claims that their products have been received well in this market. They have recently launched Kurkure Masala Munch with gingelly oil which is the most used oil in South India. The American food and beverage company has managed to identify a sweet spot common across the five states of Southern India. This strategy of customizing their products to suit local tastes across this diverse country, is not limited to South alone. They will be taking up more such products deep into the various flavours across India. “Wherever we see an opportunity for a local connect with consumers, we have been and will continue to customise our offerings accordingly,” Gandhi said. With Indian subcontinent that has a multitude of needs, expanding in variety is the need of the hour; which is something Pepsi has learnt in the last 30 years of its operations in India.

Lemon rice and Lay’s wafers: Pepsi hits a spice spot in South India

In a leadership rejig, <keyword id="742386" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="food-beverage" source="Orion">food &amp; beverage</keyword> major <keyword id="19953787" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pepsico" source="keywords">Pepsico</keyword> on Friday said <keyword id="4632597" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jagrut-Kotecha" source="Orion">Jagrut Kotecha</keyword> will lead the <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> business as the CEO, while the incumbent <keyword id="20251990" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ahmed-el-sheikh" source="keywords">Ahmed El Sheikh</keyword> will assume the charge of the Middle East business unit. Kotecha, who is the Chief Commercial Officer for PepsiCo in Africa, Middle East, and South Asia (AMESA) will assume the role of CEO for PepsiCo India in Sheikh's place, the company said in a statement. Ahmed El Sheikh, who led the PepsiCo India business for almost seven years, will move on from his current role and assume new responsibilities as of March 2024, it said. "This leadership change, reflecting PepsiCo's dynamic and forward-thinking global approach, has been meticulously planned and was communicated to the India office employees yesterday (Thursday) as part of a series of leadership changes across AMESA," it said. PepsiCo <keyword id="115930" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chief-executive-officer" source="Orion">Chief Executive Officer</keyword> -- Africa, Middle East &amp; South Asia -- Eugene Willemsen said India remains a pivotal market for the company, playing a crucial role in our global strategy. "Over the last six years, Ahmed has been instrumental in transforming our business, driving innovation, and steering the team through challenging landscapes. His leadership saw the introduction of pioneering products and various community-focused initiatives, and I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new capacity," he said. Welcoming Kotecha, he said, "We will continue to scale new zeniths of success under his leadership with our Indian consumers." PepsiCo, which owns brands such as Pepsi, Lay's, Kurkure, Tropicana 100%, Gatorade, and Quaker, entered the Indian market in 1989 and has grown to become one of the largest food and beverage businesses here. Pepsico India Holdings revenue from the sale of products and services on a consolidated basis was up 28.47 per cent to Rs 8,127.07 crore, for the financial year that ended on March 31, 2023.

Jagrut Kotecha to lead PepsiCo in India, Ahmed El Sheikh moved to Middle East Business

Executive Director (R&amp;D), TSR Murali, the brain behind Kurkure and Aliva, has quit <keyword id="110163" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="PepsiCo-India">PepsiCo India</keyword>, a person familiar with the matter told TNN. He said Murali was one of the most important in the country’s efforts to spawn innovations in its food business. 
 
The high profile exits come at a time when the sales of soft drinks are slowing down in the country. Several executives in charge of key functions left the company recently while a few others are waiting in the wings, said people familiar with the matter, citing the frequent restructuring in the Indian subsidiary of the New York-based food and beverage giant. 
 PepsiCo veterans <keyword id="2933728" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Meghnad-Mitra">Meghnad Mitra</keyword>, who worked as senior director, planning and strategy , at the company , and <keyword id="150453" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sunil-Duggal">Sunil Duggal</keyword>, director of corporate affairs, who was responsible for liasoning with Indian government and industry bodies on behalf of the beverage major have also put in their papers recently . 
 
A PepsiCo India spokesperson told TNN: "While senior and middle management levels do witness churn, we are pleased by the fact that we have been able to fill most of these positions internally which speaks for our talent pipeline created by our robust leadership development model and people plans. PepsiCo India has over a period of time built a very strong pipeline by giving people a mix of different critical experiences within PepsiCo India and internationally and continues to do so.” 
 The company faced a churn of senior and mid-level executives from both its marketing and sales division when it divested its north India bottling operations to <keyword id="13319" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ravi-Jaipuria">Ravi Jaipuria</keyword>'s <keyword id="477661" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="RJ-corp-">RJ Corp </keyword>in November last year. The deal saw PepsiCo handing over four plants and two co-packing units across six states. Around 900 direct employees of the company were affected by the deal. Glitches dogged PepsiCo till March this year when it had to pay sizeable compensations to the workers at most of the transferred plants in a bid to make them to start production for RJ Corp. 
 Industry experts said PepsiCo's "Power of One" strategy, which has also come under fire from activist investors, is one of the main reasons behind employee dissatisfaction at the company .Earlier, operations were divided into two individual entities at PepsiCo--food (FritoLay India) and beverages (PepsiCo India Holdings) --with individual leaders at the helm. Then, led by PepsiCo's long-term CEO <keyword id="6421975" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indra-Nooyi">Indra Nooyi</keyword>, the company merged its foods and beverages businesses in many markets with the idea that selling food and beverages as part of a single portfolio will give the company more leverage to take on rivals such as <keyword id="6391475" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coca-Cola">Coca-Cola</keyword>, which only sells beverages. 
 
(Image credits: wikipedia)

PepsiCo India facing HR challenge with top level resignations

They say, trouble never comes alone and <keyword id="75190" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nestle">Nestle</keyword> is the proof. And this time Maggi will not get a respite in 2 minutes. After excess lead was found by government food-testing agencies through lab tests, yesterday a Nestle made baby food product, Nan, in <keyword id="20154" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tamil-nadu">Tamil Nadu</keyword> was found to be containing live larvae. 
 
Hitting an all time low in Sensex and Nifty for consecutive two days, Nestle’s sale has tanked further down on reports of its contaminated baby food formula. 
 
And Nestle’s devastation being an example, both international and domestic food production companies are gearing up to avoid any such rotten situation in near future. As per a news report by The Economic Times, these brands are preparing to limit any collateral damage by declaring more ingredient details on packaging, highlighting product safety in ads and increasing engagement with consumers through social media. 
 Last 24 hours being more traumatic for Nestle than ever before-the <keyword id="6354952" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi-Government">Delhi government</keyword> has found samples of Maggi noodles to contain monosodium glutamate (MSG) and more than the permitted quantity of lead. It has decided to begin proceedings against the company for selling an unsafe product as well as 'misbranding' 
The Kerala government has banned the sale of the product through state-owned outlets. Haryana has ordered laboratory testing of samples. 
 The <keyword id="109212" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Food-Safety">Food Safety</keyword> and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), <keyword id="222693" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-National">the national</keyword> food regulator, is examining samples of Maggi noodles and is expected to report results in a few days. 
 
As Maggi is undergoing a horrific phase, other food companies are preparing how to cope with this issue, which has once again brought food safety to the centre stage. 
 "You never know which <keyword id="242659" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="food-inspector">food inspector</keyword> will come next and examine our products in which part of the country. We have to be best prepared for something like this," the CEO of a multinational food giant told the ET on condition of anonymity. Some companies have already swung into action. <keyword id="44672" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pepsi">Pepsi</keyword>Co, which makes the Pepsi and Mountain Dew fizzy drinks and Kurkure snacks, has stepped up communication with consumers through packaging and social media, said an executive. 
 Mayank Shah, group product <keyword id="2682154" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="manager-at-the-country">manager at the country</keyword>'s biggest biscuit maker <keyword id="235733" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parle-Products">Parle Products</keyword>, said the episode served as a warning for all food makers. "With new guidelines on food safety expected, we are planning to engage with consumers a lot more and talk to them consistently through ads and declarations, instead of waiting for something like this to happen. It's critical to keep communication with key stakeholders constant and transparent," he said. 
 
There have been times in the past when controversies relating to food safety have taken a toll on the industry. Soft drinks sale fell by almost 70-80% after pesticide residue was found in them in the mid-2000s. Similarly, sales of Cadbury chocolates dropped by more than half over contamination issues in 2003. 
 The <keyword id="162481" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="marketing-head">marketing head</keyword> of a global foods firm, who didn't want to be named, told the ET, there was an urgent need to be better prepared. "We are preparing point-of-sale material to be supplied at stores, where we will have banners declaring the ingredients in our products. We plan to insert one liners in our ads, talking about safety and health, and not just taste," he said. 
 Yum Brand's general manager <keyword id="2881197" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unnat-Verma">Unnat Verma</keyword> told the financial daily, his restaurant chains will engage more closely with consumers on the issue of product safety. Yum Brands owns Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. 
 
Retail trade executives have confirmed that sales of Maggi noodles dropped 60-70% in the past two weeks. "Consumer offtake has been severely impacted. Maggi noodles is barely moving off shelves. Promotions don't seem to be working too," said one. 
 (Image: <keyword id="-101" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Times">India Times</keyword>)

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Kurkure witnesses a jump in penetration and order frequency as in-home consumption rises

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Lemon rice and Lay’s wafers: Pepsi hits a spice spot in South India

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Jagrut Kotecha to lead PepsiCo in India, Ahmed El Sheikh moved to Middle East Business

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PepsiCo India facing HR challenge with top level resignations

BI India Bureau

Maggi’s soup turns sour and bitter! Nestle’s baby food formula Nan found with live larvae

BI India Bureau

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