- Small towns are emerging as the new big hiring zones, as consumer goods companies drive deep into the country. Companies are hiring field staff in areas like Kalpa in Himachal Pradesh, Mangaliya in Madhya Pradesh, Kota in Rajasthan and Shirdi in Maharashtra to sell products as diverse as shampoos, edible oil and even pizzas.
- The triggers are a combination of a good monsoon this year, farm-loan waivers, higher disposable incomes in rural India, media penetration, low-priced unit packs of 5 and 10 and government programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
- Consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever is hiring 25,000 ‘shaktimaans,’ or sales and field staff, to sell its products in nearly 1.5 lakh villages, while Dabur India intends to hire 200 ‘feet on street’ and indirect employees through its stockists in villages and small towns.
- “Our share of top line from semi-urban and rural markets is touching almost 50%. Naturally, we are looking at these consumers very closely,” says Dabur’s vice president-HR V Krishnan.
Reliance Brands, a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail, is scouting for acquisition in the domestic market, besides launching its own luxury label in the next 18 months.
The company, which at present predominantly focusses on men's range, plans to focus on women and kidswear categories.
"We have become serious about launching our own brand and have already started work on that and dedicating resources on the same. If everything goes as planned, in the next 18 months it should get going," Reliance Brands President and CEO Darshan Mehta told PTI
"In the next two years we are likely to announce tie-ups with two more international brands," he added without mentioning the names.
On the expansion of the existing labels, Reliance Brands plans to have three more Diesel stores, 10 outlets for Timberland, five outlets for Zegna and four stores for Paul & Shar ..
Some of the country’s leading FMCG companies – they include Nestle, Coca-Cola and Tata Coffee – are investing over Rs 1,800 crore in the next few months to expand capacity or for inorganic growth,
Nestle India is investing Rs 950 crore to set up two units to manufacture instant noodles and infant foods in Karnataka and Haryana. The Karnataka unit will be up and running in the first quarter of next calendar year, while the Haryana unit will begin commercial production by the end of next of next calendar year. It also plans a fifth facility to manufacture instant noodles, which will be put up for approval in the next two months
LINK...http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/from-beverages-to-noodles-its-expansion-time-for-fmcg-firms/409010/
