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Tag: Manish Tiwary

  • Nestlé India cooks up a strong Q1 with Rs 659 crore profit and volume growth

    Nestlé India cooks up a strong Q1 with Rs 659 crore profit and volume growth

    MUMBAI: Nestlé India’s Q1 wasn’t just about instant noodles, it was an instant hit. Powered by pantry staples, caffeine cravings, and chocolate cheer, the FMCG major cooked up a Rs 5,074 crore sales recipe in the June quarter of FY26, stirring in a 5.9 per cent year-on-year growth and a net profit of Rs 659.2 crore.

    From steaming cups of Nescafé to school tiffins packed with Maggi and KitKat, the company’s core brands did the heavy lifting. Seven of the top twelve brands brewed double-digit growth, fuelling overall volume-led momentum across categories. The EBITDA margin stood robust at 21.7 per cent of sales, while earnings per share for the quarter came in at Rs 6.84.

    “Three of our four product groups bounced back to volume-led growth,” said outgoing Nescafé CMD Suresh Narayanan, who exits the company this month after a decade-long stint. “Maggi noodles saw double-digit growth, and our beverage and confectionery portfolios continued to perform strongly.”

    And perform they did. The Powdered and Liquid Beverages segment led by Nescafé Classic, Sunrise, and Gold perked up with high double-digit growth, aided by cold coffee campaigns that clicked during the summer. Meanwhile, the Prepared Dishes and Cooking Aids category, fuelled by Maggi’s ever-spicy range (Garlic, Cheesy, Pepper, Manchurian), added more masala to the numbers.

    Confectionery was another sweet spot. Kitkat emerged as the crown jewel, leading the charge in both urban and “Rurban” markets. Munch and Milkybar also saw high double-digit gains. Nestlé’s push into premium variants like Kitkat Lemon n Lime and Dark Sharebag helped expand its digital-first distribution.

    Milk Products and Nutrition showed mixed results, but brands like Milkmaid and Nestlé’s growing-up milk range still gained market share. Meanwhile, breakfast cereals buoyed by the recent launch of Munch Choco Fills crunched out high double-digit growth.

    Nestlé’s e-commerce channel now contributes 12.5 per cent of domestic sales, with quick commerce and newer launches proving to be the growth engines. Its Out-of-Home business think vending corners and retail kiosks continues to post double-digit growth, with over 1,000 Nescaf Corners, Maggie Hotspots and Kitkat Break Zones spread across India.

    On the export front too, it was a power-packed quarter, with high double-digit growth across foods, beverages and cereals. The UK even got a taste of desi spice, with Masala-Ae-Magic officially launching there.

    The business faced its share of heat: inflationary pressures pushed up costs of key commodities, and manufacturing expansion led to higher operating expenses. Finance costs rose due to short-term borrowings. But there’s relief in sight coffee, edible oil, and cocoa prices have stabilised, and milk is expected to cool with the monsoon flush.

    As Narayanan passes the baton to incoming Nescafé chairman and MD Manish Tiwary from 1 August, he exits on a high note. Over the last decade, Nestlé India has reported a 150 per cent rise in sales, a 490 per cent jump in PAT, and a 3.9x increase in market capitalisation, with a 17 per cent CAGR in total shareholder return.

    With a legacy that’s chocolate-dipped and noodle-tossed, Nestlé India has shown that even in a high-cost environment, flavour-packed fundamentals and strong consumer connect can serve up consistent, comforting growth.

    (If you are an Anime fan and love Anime like Demon Slayer, Spy X Family, Hunter X Hunter, Tokyo Revengers, Dan Da Dan and Slime, Buy your favourite Anime merchandise on AnimeOriginals.com.)

  • OnePlus & Amazon mark a decade of innovation and premium customer focus

    OnePlus & Amazon mark a decade of innovation and premium customer focus

    Mumbai: OnePlus, the global technology brand, marked 10 years of its successful global journey, celebrating a decade of innovation and commitment to offering premium user experience. In line with the same, the brand also commemorated its 10 years of global engagement with Amazon.in, which has further enhanced the accessibility and reach of OnePlus products to the wider segment of customers in India.

    More than 12 million OnePlus smartphones were sold across 98.9 per cent* pin-codes in India via Amazon.in since 2014. Since its inception in India, OnePlus launched its first device on Amazon.in, the OnePlus One in December 2014. And now, OnePlus has emerged to be the #1** searched android smartphone brand in 2023 on Amazon.in, showcasing the brand’s consistently growing popularity among users.

    In line with the commendable growth, in 2023, the flagship OnePlus 11R 5G as the best-selling android premium smartphone* by volume in the >30k price segment on Amazon.in and OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G emerged to be the best-selling smartphone by volume* across all price segments.

    Marking this milestone, OnePlus founder Pete Lau shared, “Since its inception in India, OnePlus as a brand has always had the best interests of its community at the core of everything we do. Similarly, our longstanding engagement with Amazon is a testament to our commitment to delivering top-tier technology to our wider user community in India. We believe that our shared values and consumer-centric approach made this engagement a resounding success, and continues to do so.

    Here’s to a decade more of forging new frontiers, embracing challenges and fostering limitless potential together”

    Commemorating this occasion, Amazon India VP and country manager, consumer business Manish Tiwary shared, “As Amazon India also celebrates its 10-year anniversary, it is heartening to witness OnePlus also commemorate this milestone the same year. In 2014, the first OnePlus smartphone – the OnePlus One was launched on Amazon.in. And since then, the brand has received exponential growth and popularity amongst the Indian customers. We are humbled by this engagement and congratulate the entire team at OnePlus for choosing India’s most preferred online smartphone destination***, Amazon India, as the marketplace of choice. The journey of innovation and engagement continues, as both companies look ahead to the next decade of pushing boundaries and delivering ground-breaking products to customers pan India.”

    OnePlus recently announced that it is set to launch its new flagship devices, the OnePlus 12 Series, soon. The OnePlus 12 as well as the OnePlus 12R are set to be released at the OnePlus Smooth Beyond Belief Launch Event at 19:30 IST, on 23 January 2024.

     

  • How Flipkart & Amazon enter the festive season

    How Flipkart & Amazon enter the festive season

    NEW DELHI: Amidst Covid2019 pandemic, India's biggest e-commerce platforms, Flipkart and Amazon, have tightened their belts in readiness for the festive fervour. Tensions are running high as the companies are looking to outperform each other in the battle of mega sales. Flipkart is set to begin the Big Billion Day sale from 16 October (Flipkart Plus customers will get access to deals 24 hours early), while Amazon will kickstart the Great Indian Festival from 17 October (Amazon Prime members will get access to deals 24 hours early). 

    For both e-tailers, Durga Puja to Diwali is like an extended banquet of consumer purchases.

    According to experts, online sales are expected to grow at their fastest pace this festive season. It is no secret that consumers, both in metros and non-metro cities, have shifted from physical retail to online modes of shopping as a result of the pandemic. The festive jamboree is expected to generate higher-order volume and value for e-commerce companies and help them multiply their retail sales following the negligible to zero growth in business during the lockdown.

    To leverage this promising event, Amazon and Flipkart have launched their marketing campaigns to rope in the masses. However, the advertising approach by both brands for the festive campaign is completely different. 

    Like the previous year, Flipkart’s strategy is massively celebrity-driven and focuses on essentials such as product and deals updates. These celebs include Virat Kohli, Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhat, Mahesh Babu, Sudeep. The etailer has roped in endorsers from the north and south regions to reach out to its audiences in these geographies. It has also roped in multiple influencers to amplify the sale and launched a teaser campaign to build excitement around the announcement of the sale.

    Flipkart group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said, “The Big Billion Days stands for a celebration of brands, an assortment of collections never seen before, a spirit of festivity and joy, and a feeling of immense excitement as everyone embarks on their festive season preparations. This festive event continues to focus on Flipkart’s commitment to provide value for consumers, opportunities for growth for MSMEs and sellers, and employment generation through e-commerce. Through strong partnerships with brands and sellers we have tapped into the power of interconnected businesses and technology to bring consumers a wide range of products at great prices at their doorsteps this festive season.”    

    Read more news on Flipkart

    On the other hand, Amazon has also released ads in multiple languages to show how customers are eagerly waiting for the festive sale. The promos also tout Amazon as a one-stop-shop for all your festive fashion shopping from the comfort of home. The brand has stayed away from big celebrities and is focusing on how Amazon Great Indian Festival is a time for the family to shop together. It has also created multiple stores around the theme of Diwali, Durga Puja and IPL, to build a personalized shopping experience for customers. Amazon has also launched a wedding store for the upcoming nuptials season. The e-commerce platform has incorporated features like voice to quickly narrow users’ search for products, top deals, including Alexa-exclusive deals, or just ask Alexa on their Amazon Shopping app (Android only). 

    The brand is promoting its campaign through hashtags such as #NowHappinessHasNoBounds #HarPalFashionale on Instagram and Twitter. 

    Both e-commerce giants are keeping their social media feeds buzzing with updates on exclusive deals and offers. As per experts, Amazon has a rationalised budget distribution for the whole year, including non-festive periods, whereas Flipkart does seasonal advertising.

    Read more news on Amazon India

    This year Amazon and Flipkart have massively expanded their footprint. Flipkart has expanded its kirana onboarding program to include more than 50,000 kiranas, who will in turn make last-mile deliveries to consumers in more than 850 cities. On the other hand, over 20,000 offline retailers, kiranas, and local shops from local shops on Amazon programme are participating for the first time in the shopping festival.  

    Amazon India VP Manish Tiwary said, “This year’s ‘Great Indian Festival’ is an opportunity for our sellers and partners to reach millions of customers across the country. Our sellers are excited and expect this to help them in accelerating their business. For our customers, our aim is to help them find everything they need during the festive season and deliver it safely to them.”  

    If we look at the trends closely, the ‘Big Billion Days’ and ‘Great Indian Festival’ are not merely sale events but have become synonymous with the respective brand’s legacy. The sales of these two etailers have been growing year-on-year, especially during this period. 

    Now, consumers actually refresh their phones for weeks in anticipation for these seasonal sales to buy the products they have long-since added to their wishlists. This consistency by both e-tailers to hold mega sales over the last few years clearly depicts how the event has built a brand's legacy.

  • Amazon’s Great Indian Festival to commence from 17 October

    Amazon’s Great Indian Festival to commence from 17 October

    NEW DELHI: As India gears up for the festive season, e-commerce major Amazon India has announced its annual Great Indian festival to commence from 17 October. As usual, the Amazon Prime members will have access to discounts and offers a day in advance, 16 October.  

    This year, lakhs of small and medium businesses (SMBs) are offering unique selection to customers to rebuild and accelerate their businesses in tough times. Customers across the country will have the opportunity to shop for unique products from thousands of Amazon sellers under various programs such as local shops, Amazon Launchpad, Amazon Saheli, and Amazon Karigar and enjoy deals/offers extended by lakhs of small businesses. 

    Over 20,000 offline retailers, kiranas, and local shops from local shops on Amazon programme are participating for the first time in the company’s biggest annual sale. Local shops on Amazon, which allow sellers to cater to customers in their local area and deliver products in upto two days have scaled rapidly in just five months; with more than 40 per cent of the sellers coming from outside the top 10 cities. 

    Commenting on the announcement, Amazon India VP Manish Tiwary said, “This year’s ‘Great Indian Festival’ is an opportunity for our sellers and partners to reach millions of customers across the country. Our sellers are excited and expect this to help them in accelerating their business. For our customers, our aim is to help them find everything they need during the festive season and deliver it safely to them.”

    Sellers on Amazon.in are optimistic about the festive season. As per a recent survey by Nielsen, more than 85 per cent of SMBs sellers are expecting to reach out to new customers and witness an increase in sales. More than 74 per cent of sellers are optimistic about the recovery of business and 78 per cent are positive about the increase in visibility of their products.

    Customers can look forward to over 900 new product launches from top brands. They can shop for deals every day across a wide range of categories like consumer durables, electronic gadgets, kitchen appliances, fashion and apparel, and many others. The brand has added new languages- English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada into the app for customers to shop. 

    Tiwari told the media that their objective for this festive season is to help the MSME sector to grow their business and bounce back from the recent challenges, he shared that the pandemic has disrupted the consumer behaving buying pattern, “We have seen small businesses who were shy from doing their business online, pandemic in a way has helped them to implement it, and innovate the business. Today, small retailers want to grow their business on Amazon, and take benefits out of it.”

    The etailer has gone ahead to launch a campaign in multiple languages to connect with the audiences.  

    The etailer has created multiple stores around Diwali, Pujo, IPL and others to help customers shop more products of their need and choice. This also includes a wedding store for the forthcoming wedding season. Customers can now use voice to quickly narrow their search for products, top deals, including Alexa-exclusive deals, or just ask Alexa on their Amazon Shopping app (Android only) as well, to pay utility bills, load money in Amazon Pay, or navigate to the Small Business Store, Fun Zone or the Great Indian Bazaar.

    Amazon has ramped up its delivery infrastructure adding close to 200 delivery stations and added tens of thousands of delivery partners to its network. Amazon.in has expanded its fulfilment footprint with more than 60 centres in 15 states offering a storage capacity of over 32 million cubic feet to serve customers in the farthest parts of the country. Further, it has announced 5 new sort centres and expansion of 8 existing sort centres across the country to strengthen fulfilment capacity.  

    According to experts, online festive season sales will generate higher order volume and value for e-commerce companies on the back of the Covid2019-induced shift in shopping patterns for a vast number of consumers not just in metros but largely in non-metro cities from physical retail to online retail. This would also likely help online sellers to multiply their sales following the negligible to zero growth in business during the lockdown.

    As per market research firm RedSeer, growth in shoppers this year will be driven by ‘Bharat’ shoppers with 40-50 per cent of 45-50 million shoppers expected to come from Tier-II cities and beyond, 20-25 per cent from Tier-I cities, and 30-35 per cent from metros. The growth in shoppers will be around 70 per cent — from 28 million in 2019 to expected 45-50 million this year in contrast to only around 40 per cent from 20 million in 2018 festive days to 28 million in 2019.

  • Amazon India enables neighbourhood stores for festive season

    Amazon India enables neighbourhood stores for festive season

    Bengaluru: This festive season, over 100,000 Amazon-enabled local shops, kiranas and neighbourhood stores from across India have geared up to serve customers. More than 20,000 offline retailers, kiranas and local shops from “Local Shops on Amazon” program are participating in their first “Great Indian Festival” to cater to customers in their cities and across India, selling everything from daily essentials to large appliances and from home décor items to gifts and fresh flowers. 

    The program has witnessed remarkable response from retailers from across India and has scaled rapidly in just five months; with more than 40 per cent of the sellers coming from outside the top 10 cities. The success of the “Local Shops on Amazon” program underlines Amazon India’s commitment to work closely with the vast network of neighborhood stores across India, integrating e-commerce into their operations through focused initiatives such as Amazon Easy, I Have Space, and Amazon Pay Smart Stores.

    Amazon India VP Manish Tiwary said, “This festive season we are focused on helping our sellers and other MSME partners grow their business and bounce back from the recent challenges. In the last few months we have seen businesses of all sizes increasingly adopt technology into their business. The integration of Amazon’s programs with 100,000+ ubiquitous neighbourhood stores – for selling online, to help customers buy online, to make deliveries and enable contactless payments – is a testament of the adaptability and inventiveness of Indian entrepreneurs. We hope that this Great Indian Festival will bring them growth and success as they get ready to serve millions of customers across India”.

    Local Shops on Amazon is a new program that was launched in April this year to help bring offline retailers, kiranas and local shops online. The program has scaled rapidly within 5 months of launch and now has more than 20,000 retailers in 400 cities. Today, thousands of offline retailers from Meerut to Ludhiana, Saharanpur to Surat, Indore to Ernakulum and Kanchipuram are part of this program. Local Shops on Amazon offer a wide range of products including fresh flowers, home and kitchen products, furniture, electronics, books and toys amongst others.

    Amazon Easy enables assisted shopping experience for new to e-commerce customers. They can place an order on Amazon.in with guided assistance from the store staff and pick up the order from the store or get it delivered at their doorstep. An upgraded ‘Amazon Easy’ store format has recently been launched offering a touch & feel product experience and integrating multiple Amazon services through a single touchpoint. The first such store is now operational in Bengaluru. The upgraded format stores will soon be expanded to other parts of the country.

    Amazon Pay Smart Store is currently enabling 15,000+ neighbourhood shops to provide a contactless shopping experience to their customers. With Amazon Pay Smart Store, customers can simply scan the store’s QR code using the Amazon app to explore the products available in the store. After selecting the products, they wish to buy they can check out with Amazon Pay, which gives them a choice of using UPI, balance, or credit or debit cards.  Customers can on-the-spot convert a transaction into an EMI, and avail exciting rewards from their banks or through Amazon Pay.

    Amazon I Have Space

    Ahead of the festive season, Amazon has also strengthened its flagship ‘I Have Space’ (IHS) delivery program, now comprising of more than 28,000 neighborhood and kirana stores in close to 350 cities. Under the ‘I Have Space’ program, Amazon India partners with local store owners to deliver products to customers within a 2 to 4 kilometers radius of their store, allowing them to supplement their regular income and generate more footfalls.

  • HUL announces key appointments

    HUL announces key appointments

    MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has announced a key change in the management committee. Manish Tiwary, currently sales and customer development executive director and VP, will now take charge of the Unilever Gulf business as the managing director.

     

    Customer Development Global RTM, TT and CDIT vice president Punit Misra will take place of Tiwary at HUL and will be part of the company’s management committee. The change will be effective November 2014.

     

    HUL CEO and managing director Sanjiv Mehta said, “I would like to express my deep appreciation for the significant contribution that Manish has made to the India business and congratulate him on his new role.”

     

    Tiwary has led the largest increase in sales coverage by adding 1 million plus perfect stores across India. He also executed structural changes to provide a sharper focus to the Foods business and laid the blueprint for ‘Winning In Many Indias’, the customer development model of HUL that was rolled out in September 2014.

     

    Misra joined HUL in 1996 and has worked across marketing and customer development roles both in HUL and Unilever.

     

    Misra’s successor will be announced in due course.