Preeti Khanna

India-based alco-bev venture Loca Loka Tequila has expanded its leadership team as it gears up for the next phase of growth in the fast-rising tequila category. The company has appointed Rohit Srinivasan as Head of Marketing, Rajesh Israni as Head of Sales, and Ritesh Singh as Supply Chain & Logistics Manager, bringing in proven expertise across marketing, sales, and operations to fuel its international ambitions. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gA2gQf_R #retail #business #news #market #update #alcobev #brand #localoka #leadership #expansion Sree Harsha Vadlamudi| Raghu Veer Yeadala| Carlos Garay| Laura Santana| Nicholas Jahanian, WSET ll| Mahesh Surapaneni

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🚨 Jumbotail raises $120M in Series D round; completes acquisition of Solv. Bengaluru-based Jumbotail has raised $120M in Series D funding led by SC Ventures by Standard Chartered and acquired Solv India, expanding its offerings across food, fashion, and financial services for 500K+ kiranas and MSMEs in 400+ cities. With this, the company is strengthening its full-stack platform to scale credit, commerce, and tech tools for small retailers nationwide. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gY4w_cG4 By Anuj Suvarna #B2BCommerce #RetailTech #Kiranas #MSMEIndia #StartupFunding

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Most brands don’t lose because of the product. They lose because the product never reaches where demand actually lives. In beverages, the biggest share gains came from fixing the distribution backbone. Here are the 4 levers that consistently moved share for us across Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, and Nepal: 1. DBR quality & ROI health A weak distributor breaks the entire chain. Consolidating fragmented bases, fixing ROI structures, and ensuring DBRs have the right infrastructure leads to healthy distributors. Healthy distributors, when incentivized well, are a potent force. Strong DBRs = strong share gains. 2. Route redesign & Secondary Coverage Ramp-up Poor routing = poor coverage = no chance of winning. Tightening route discipline, lifting outlet coverage, and fixing coverage frequency are critical levers to ensure the right route structuring. Increasing secondary vehicles with the right route structure is the single biggest move to expand the “available-to-buy” footprint. 3. Cooler density & placement discipline You don’t sell cold beverages without cold availability. We added 7,000 coolers on a base of 14,000 in one of the key states alone — a +50% jump and saw immediate lifts in stock weight and impulse conversion. 4. IT visibility of the market You can’t fix what you can’t see. Ramping up IT coverage leads to transformed decision-making, and suddenly, gaps weren’t assumptions; they were coordinates. TL;DR: You put in place strong distributors; from them, you get more secondary vehicles; you drive chilled availability, while tracking the performance! My operating belief: Distribution is where strategy becomes real. If you get the last mile right, share follows. Always. If this resonates with you, let’s connect! #FMCGIndia #GoToMarket #RTM #ExecutionWins #ConsumerGoods

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Unlocking Rural Business Growth in India (TM’s perspective) With over 65% of India’s population residing in rural areas, this vast heartland accounts for nearly 40% of FMCG consumption (NielsenIQ, 2024). For trade marketers, rural India isn’t just a growth frontier; it’s a proving ground for innovation, resilience, and localized strategies. The Rural Opportunity Government initiatives like PM-KISAN, improved infrastructure (think better roads and electrification), and digital penetration have boosted purchasing power. A 2024 FICCI report pegs rural FMCG growth at 7-8% annually—outpacing urban markets. From sachets of shampoo to packaged snacks, rural consumers are demanding variety, quality, and value. But reaching them isn’t easy. Trade marketers face a fragmented network of retailers, seasonal demands, and logistical challenges. TM’s Role in Rural Success TM in rural India is less about glossy campaigns and more about gritty execution. Here’s how it’s fueling business growth: 1. Localized Assortments
Trade marketers are tailoring product mixes and pack sizes (sachets rule!) to match local tastes, ensuring stock moves fast. 2. Strengthening the Supply Chain
Getting products to villages is half the battle. Brands are leaning on micro-distributors and van-based mobile stockists to penetrate deeper, while trade incentives—like extra margins for bulk orders—keep the pipeline flowing. 3. Retailer Empowerment
Rural kirana owners wear many hats: shopkeeper, advisor, even credit provider. Trade marketers are turning them into brand advocates through training and loyalty programs. Trends Driving Rural Growth * Festivals and Harvest Seasons: Rural consumption spikes during Diwali, Pongal, and post-harvest periods. * Affordable Innovation: Brands are launching rural-specific SKUs—smaller, cheaper, durable. * Women as Influencers: With self-help groups (SHGs) and microfinance empowering rural women, brands are tapping them as micro-entrepreneurs. Real Wins in the Hinterland * A Beverage Brand’s Haat Strategy: A cola giant activated rural weekly markets with sampling vans and trade discounts, boosting sales by 18% in Madhya Pradesh last year. * Soap Sachets Take Off: A personal care brand partnered with micro-distributors to flood Uttar Pradesh villages with Rs. 5 soap sachets—doubling its rural market share in 2024. The Rural Roadblocks Poor infrastructure in remote areas, low literacy impacting product awareness, and cash-flow constraints for small retailers remain hurdles. Monsoons can disrupt supply chains, while counterfeit products erode trust. Strategies to Win Rural India * Build Trust * Optimize Logistics * Incentivize Volumes * Go Beyond Kiranas: haats, cooperatives etc The Bigger Picture Rural India isn’t just a market—it’s a growth engine for FMCG. TM with its focus on channel execution and retailer relationships, is the spark that lights this engine. Are you seeing the same trends—or something new? Let’s swap stories in the comments!

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India-born premium tequila brand Loca Loka is charging ahead in its global growth journey with the appointment of three seasoned leaders: 🔹 Rohit Srinivasan – Head of Marketing 🔹 Rajesh Israni – Head of Sales 🔹 Ritesh Singh – Supply Chain & Logistics Manager As the company gears up for its India debut in Q4 2025 and scales deeper into Southeast Asia and the U.S., these strategic hires mark a major milestone in strengthening its marketing, sales, and supply chain backbone. https://lnkd.in/eMR7Ka7j Loca Loka Tequila | Rajiv Ghumman | Tejesh Kumar Battineni | #LeadershipUpdate #LocaLoka #Tequila #SpiritsIndustry #MarketingLeadership #SalesLeadership #SupplyChain #Alcobev #IndiaToTheWorld #PremiumTequila #StartupNews #BusinessMoves

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Noida-based healthy snacking brand, Farmley has raised $40 million in its Series C funding round led by global consumer-focused investment firm L Catterton, with participation from existing investor DSG Consumer Partners. Founded in 2017 by Akash Sharma and Abhishek Agarwal, Farmley offers snacks such as makhana-based munchies, date bites, seeds, trail mixes, and roasted nuts. The company runs five processing units and sources directly from more than 5,000 farmers in various locations. According to a press statement from Farmley, the money raised will be utilized for capital projects, increasing exports, developing new product formulas and technologies, and broadening distribution networks throughout India. According to an ET report, the funding includes 30% secondary sales by early-stage investors, including Insitor and Samunnati, along with employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). 🔗 Register For 15 Days Online International Training cum Workshop Program on AGRIPPRENEURSHIP 1.0 : https://lnkd.in/gq_n3U9P ➡️ Follow us for more such updates: Your AgriStory #Farmley #FundingNews #AgriTech #FoodTech

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India’s BPC market has rarely been forgiving! As legacy FMCG majors tighten distribution and several D2C beauty brands confront slowing revenues and rising CAC, the easy-growth era appears over. Yet, Pilgrim is emerging as an outlier💡 Founded in 2019, the Mumbai-based brand scaled 24X in three years to ₹400 Cr in FY25, backed by online-led distribution, improving offline mix and strong repeat metrics. With $54 Mn+ raised and a ₹600 Cr+ FY26 target in sight, Pilgrim’s trajectory raises a sharper question: what does disciplined execution look like in a crowded beauty battlefield? 🔗To read the in-depth article, click here- https://4-2.co/4axPedI #Inc42 #BPC #beauty #fashion #skincare #Indianstartups #revenue #financials #startups 

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Mount Everest Breweries Ltd. (MEBL) has appointed Vinod Babu G as its new Chief Executive Officer. He took charge on July 2. This move signals MEBL’s renewed focus on brand building, premiumisation, and expansion into new markets. Vinod brings over 19 years of leadership experience in the FMCG and alcoholic beverages sectors, having held senior roles at Anheuser-Busch InBev India and SABMiller India. His track record includes successful brand launches, market expansions, and building high-performing teams across geographies. Commenting on the appointment, Vedant Kedia, Director at MEBL, said, “We are confident that under his leadership, MEBL will continue to scale new heights, strengthen its premium brand portfolio, and solidify its position as a leader in the Indian beer market." Read More at: https://lnkd.in/etbeWaWB

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"Wholesale is won, not just with price—but with control and consistency." On my recent visit to Bangalore’s wholesale market, we appointed a dedicated distributor for a focused 1 km radius. This might sound small—but in FMCG, territory depth can often outperform territory width. Why is this significant? Because Karnataka has historically been a stronghold for us. And with the right partner—one who understands rate control, customer curation, and strategic distribution—we’re laying the foundation for sustainable scale. Here’s what stood out: 👉 He doesn’t serve everyone. He serves the right ones. 👉 Any price fluctuation in his radius? He knows first. 👉 He builds relationships—not just orders. In a category where visibility is everything and margins are thin, this approach helps us build brand trust and shelf consistency. This is the kind of precision execution that brings a brand back to dominance. #MarketInsights #WholesaleStrategy #FMCGIndia #DistributionMatters #KarnatakaMarket #ExecutionWins #BrandBuilding #RetailStrategy #ChinniNambiEnterprises #CNEOnTheMove

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Orkla India Strengthens #Convenience Foods #Portfolio Amid Rising E-Commerce #Demand #OrklaIndia, the owner of iconic brands #MTR and Eastern, is aggressively eyeing #acquisitions and betting on the #growing demand for ready-to-eat meals and hyperfast #delivery to drive double-digit #revenue growth in the coming fiscal years. The #company, which merged MTR and Eastern in 2023, aims to return to the double-digit growth levels last seen in fiscal 2023, according to CEO Sanjay Sharma. Ashu Agrawal | Orkla India | Sanjay Sharma #OrklaIndia #Company #Acquisition #Portfolio

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Kushal Gupta has been appointed as Chief Retail Officer at Nat Habit , bringing over 20 years of FMCG leadership experience from industry giants like PepsiCo, Bikano , and Tata Consumer Products. His appointment marks a pivotal move in Nat Habit’s push toward offline retail expansion, where Kushal will be responsible for driving revenue growth, building national infrastructure, and establishing strategic partnerships across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. At Nat Habit, Kushal will play a critical role in integrating the brand’s strong D2C foundation with an omnichannel strategy designed to make natural personal care more accessible across India. Co-founders Swagatika Das and Gaurav Agarwal expressed confidence in his leadership, while Kushal described the opportunity as a defining moment to scale the brand’s purpose-led mission and retail presence. #KushalGupta #NatHabit #ChiefRetailOfficer #FMCGLeadership #RetailExpansion #D2CtoOmnichannel #PepsiCoAlumni #TataConsumerProducts #Bikano #NaturalPersonalCare #Tier2Tier3Markets #ConsumerGrowthStrategy #cxolanes

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Ground Learning 2: The #Challenger #Brands One of the biggest takeaways from our recent East UP visit: "Non-MNC, non-national brands dominating the shelves" It’s not just “regional players.” We saw Indore-based confectionery brands, Bangalore-based agarbatti brands, and dozens of others present in small UP villages. 👉 In categories like personal care, MNCs still hold strong. 👉 But in most other categories, shelves are stacked with challenger and wholesale-led brands. When we asked retailers why, two answers came up again and again: 1. Better margins 2. More bang for buck for consumers That’s it. Simple, powerful economics. What’s even more fascinating: 👉 Many of these brands don’t have an organised sales force. 👉 They are wholesale-led. 👉 Yet, some have scaled to hundreds of crores in sales. But even at that scale, they don’t crack a single-digit share in their categories. Why? Distribution walls. Give these brands direct reach to retailers and insights from the ground, and their growth potential multiplies.

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For decades, India’s FMCG engine thrived on one timeless truth: availability is king. But today, the definition of availability, including where, how, and at what cost, is being rewritten. As consumer behaviour evolves, retail channels multiply, and micro-markets emerge at an unprecedented pace, we’re entering a new era of sales and distribution. It’s no longer about scale alone; it’s about intelligent scale with precision, agility, and profitability. At Marico, we anticipated this shift early. Project SETU, our largest sales transformation initiative, is not just a response to change, it’s a leap ahead. Designed to build a future-ready Go-To-Market (GTM) model, SETU is driving this through: - Direct distribution expansion - strengthening rural and urban reach - AI-driven assortments for outlet-level precision, micro-nuancing, and premiumization - Offline-friendly digital tools with near real-time KPI tracking to empower frontline teams Our ambition is clear: profitable growth for all stakeholders while building sustainable competitive advantage. What’s working? - Pin-code precision over one-size-fits-all approaches because similar markets often behave differently - AI-led forecasting to anticipate micro-festivals and category triggers, reducing stock-outs and improving service levels - Tech and training for our salesforce to navigate India’s most fragmented terrains effectively The next decade belongs to companies that combine advanced technology with the intuition of retailers and frontline teams. At @Marico, we’re proud to lead that charge. I’m curious to know – according to you, what are the newest innovations and perspectives reshaping India’s sales and distribution ecosystem? #ProjectSetu #SalesTransformation #FMCGSales#SETU  

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