| THIS WEEK: THE INDIAN BAKERY MARKET |
| Bakery products witnessed a growth of 5 per cent in current value terms in 2005, with value and volume sales reaching Rs 85 billion and 2,481,000 tonnes respectively. |
| Biscuits, the second-largest contributor to bakery products in terms of value share, with sales of Rs 34 billion in 2005, demonstrated the second highest current value growth of 7 per cent and volume growth of 6 per cent over 2004. |
| Biscuits elevated their value shares in bakery products steadily from 37 per cent in 2000 to 39 per cent in 2005 on the back of rising rural and suburban penetration. |
| While biscuits are mainly the domain of the two leading manufacturers, Britannia and Parle, other manufacturers (such as ITC Ltd's Sunfeast) have provided strong competition. |
| In 2003-04, the Federation of Biscuit Manufacturers of India lobbied with the Indian government to reduce the prevailing excise duties on biscuits from 16 to 8 per cent. This helped in heightened manufacturer interest in biscuits over the period. |
| Biscuit players are now demanding the removal of the excise duty, or, at least, its reduction from 8 to 4 per cent. |
| Selections from management journals NUGGETS |
| As global companies have entered China, many of them focused mainly on serving its urban-affluent consumers. However, if these companies continue to use this strategy they risk missing the real opportunity "" the emerging middle class. During the next 20 years, one expects a huge middle class, with enormous spending power, to emerge in China's cities, following two distinctive waves of growth. As incomes increase, the spending patterns of this consumer group will evolve, fueling various levels of growth across consumption categories. Although it will be difficult, companies should broaden their focus to include this swiftly evolving middle class. Since this segment is a hard one to serve, companies must think creatively to succeed. |
| Read this article at www.mckinseyquarterly.com |
| WHO BOUGHT WHAT |
| TOP ONLINE BUYS May 2006 |
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| TOP SEARCHES May 2006 Source: ebay India (www.eBay.in) |
Strategic tools for the practising manager
KIT
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First Published: Jun 13 2006 | 12:00 AM IST
