In a strategic move, Mondelez International is looking at significantly accelerating its investments in India, which it considers a key market. The maker of Oreo and Cadbury plans to invest about ₹4,000 crore in the 2023-26 period in the country. The packaged food major said this is in addition to investments of₹1,500 crore made during the 2019-22 period in India.
Deepak Iyer , President, Mondelez India, told business line the fresh investments will go in to ramping up capacity at existing factories, besides augmenting warehousing, logistics, and cold-chain infrastructure, including in the rural region.
Make in India
“2023 marks our 75thyear in India. This investment is being made to support the surge in the consumption and hence the volume sales of our products,” Iyer said. He added that this capex will be in addition to other investments made on brands and advertising.
Stating that this reinforces the company’s endorsement in “Make-In-India ‘‘ philosophy of the country, Iyer added that at this stage bulk of the investments will go in setting new lines in its existing four facilities in the country and at facilities of its manufacturing partners.
The packaged food majorcurrently has four factories in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh. It added that it will strategically focus ongrowing penetration of its core categoriesof chocolates, biscuits and choco-bakery.
Betting on Bharat
“The rural market has been growing really well for us in terms of volumes, value penetration and per capita consumption,” Iyer said.
Responding to a query on the impact of the current macroeconomic conditions, Iyer said the company continues to be ‘cautiously optimistic’.“We still have to contend with headwinds such as dairy inflation remaining high. So we still have to watch out. But overall, in the medium term we are very confident of the growth trajectory and consumption continuing to stay strong,” he added.
Source : The Hindu Business Line March 20th 2023