Brands
Milk, money and sixes: Amul and Nandini eye RCB during IPL 2026
BENGALURU: From breakfast tables to boundary ropes, India’s milk war is getting frothy. Fresh off their IPL 2025 triumph, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are set to become the hottest property in town — and the prize cow in a high-stakes sponsorship tussle between Amul and Nandini ahead of the 2026 season.
According to Moneycontrol, the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which sells dairy under the Nandini brand, is exploring a title sponsorship and partnership with RCB for IPL 2026, taking direct aim at rival Amul, which was associated with the franchise last season. Call it full-cream competition.
KMF has floated a tender to appoint an IPL-authorised agency to broker Nandini’s entry as an official RCB partner. The shopping list is lavish: use of the RCB name, logo and trademarks on packaging, advertising and public relations campaigns through the IPL window. Stadium kiosks at RCB’s home games are also on the menu, turning matchdays into milk runs.
Digital is central to the churn. Nandini plans to milk RCB’s players and logo across Instagram, X and Facebook, backed by outdoor hoardings and large-format media. KMF managing director B Shivaswamy, believes the logic is local and emotional: RCB represents Karnataka. He added that KMF is keen to rope in Virat Kohli and two other RCB players for promotional campaigns.
The bigger ambition is national. The IPL’s megaphone will be used to push Nandini deeper into Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai, markets where Amul has long enjoyed pole position. An additional tender for digital gantry advertising at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, underlines the federation’s intent to blanket eyeballs, from arrivals halls to boundary lines.
KMF has been steadily bulking up its sports-marketing muscle. It sponsored Scotland and Ireland at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, and has tied up with teams in the Pro Kabaddi League and the Indian Super League. Cricket, though, remains the fattest cow.
The dairy duel has political undertones too. Ahead of the 2023 Karnataka elections, Amul’s entry into Bengaluru sparked a storm, with fears it would dent the local cooperative and its army of farmers. KMF, which counts 24 lakh milk producers, procures 8.4 million litres daily and reported a turnover of nearly Rs 19,800 crore in 2021–22, is not short of heft. Amul, however, remains the heavyweight, clocking a provisional Rs 55,055 crore in 2022–23.
RCB, meanwhile, can sit back and enjoy the bidding war. When milk brands start throwing elbows over a cricket team, you know the IPL has truly entered its richest innings. The cows are restless — and the stakes are rising.
Brands
Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board
Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.
Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.
“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.
The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.
Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.
The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.
Brands
Brnd.me enters Europe as haircare brands power global expansion
Bengaluru: Brnd.me, the global consumer brands company formerly known as Mensa Brands, has entered the European market following strong momentum across the Middle East, the United States and Canada.
The company has launched across the UK, Germany, France and Spain, with plans to expand into Italy, the Netherlands and Poland over the next year. The push is being led by its haircare and aromatherapy brands, Botanic Hearth and Majestic Pure, marking Brnd.me’s first structured expansion into Europe.
The European beauty market represents a total addressable opportunity of over $4 billion across haircare and aromatherapy, supported by high digital adoption and demand for accessible, performance-led products.
Brnd.me’s hair care and aromatherapy business currently operates at an annual run rate of around $6 million, with Botanic Hearth and Majestic Pure delivering roughly 10 per cent month-on-month growth, driven by expansion and rising repeat demand.
To support regional growth, the company has appointed a general manager based in Germany and is evaluating investments in warehousing and local team expansion.
Early traction has been strong. Within weeks of launch, Botanic Hearth’s rosemary hair oil ranked among the top five hair oils in Germany, signalling strong consumer pull in a competitive market.
Brnd.me founder and chief executive officer Ananth Narayanan, said Europe represents the next phase of the company’s international strategy. He added that the European business is expected to scale to a $10 million annual run rate by the end of 2026, with long-term ambitions to reach $60 million over the next six years.
The company’s Europe strategy centres on digital-first distribution, repeat demand and TikTok-led discovery, alongside direct-to-consumer expansion to strengthen brand equity and margins.
The move also aligns with growing EU–India trade engagement, supporting long-term sourcing and cross-border supply chains.
Brands
TechnoSport taps quick commerce with launch on Slikk’s 60-minute platform
NATIONAL: TechnoSport has launched on Slikk, the ultra-fast fashion app offering 60-minute delivery, as the activewear brand accelerates its push into quick commerce to capture Gen Z and young millennial shoppers.
The debut brings more than 150 high-performance styles to Slikk’s platform, with an average selling price of Rs 450, expanding TechnoSport’s reach across over 80 pin codes.
The partnership follows strong momentum for TechnoSport across Q-commerce channels, where the brand has recorded around 60 per cent volume growth over the past six months. The company expects quick commerce to contribute nearly 20 per cent of its revenue in the coming years as hyperlocal delivery gains scale.
Slikk, which recently raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed, has rapidly gained popularity among youth consumers seeking speed, trend relevance and impulse-led shopping experiences.
Activewear remains one of Slikk’s fastest-growing categories, driven by shoppers increasingly treating fitness-led fashion as an everyday essential. The platform has reported a 30-fold year-on-year increase in items sold, reflecting rising demand for performance wear that blends comfort with style.
TechnoSport chief executive officer Puspen Maity, said the collaboration would help the brand engage more closely with young consumers whose fashion choices are shaped by instant needs and lifestyle aspirations. He added that rapid delivery bridges the gap between intent and purchase, allowing shoppers to access activewear exactly when they want it.
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