AGRARIAN DREAMS

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Another area where the Mittal brothers are hunting for jewels is agri-business. Under full charge of the eldest in the trio, Rakesh Mittal, Bharti Del Monte is engaged in exporting fresh fruits and vegetables via the FieldFresh brand. Besides being the largest exporter of fresh baby corn in India, FieldFresh supplies fresh fruits and vegetables to modern retailers like Big Apple and its own retail venture, Easyday. The JV is now also flexing its muscles in the domestic market, with the recently launched Del Monte range of processed foods and beverages - including packaged fruits, ketchups, fruit drinks and range of Italian products. The Indian processed food market stands at a whopping $65 billion and is poised to grow at an annual rate of 12-15%. Translated for the Bharti Del Monte JV this promises a huge growth potential. So could the agri-business be Bharti’s next big leap?

“I don’t think so,” says Shushmul Maheshwari, CEO, RNCOS. His reasoning is based on the lack of a masses strategy so far in the business. Airtel has largely succeeded on the back of strong reach, accessibility and affordability. It reaches high end to low class consumer segments. Del Monte’s range of products, on the other hand, have a premium pricing as they are importing their entire range. He believes that Bharti’s premium pricing is to avoid the present cost pressures.

Perhaps Rakesh Mittal has a similar inkling. He plans to invest Rs.100 crore over the next year to set up a food processing facility at Hosur in Tamil Nadu. Bharti Del Monte would be able to churn out processed foods and beverages from here by 2010. That perhaps could be the Mittal ticket for a masses-led strategy and eventually market dominance. But even then, the road does not promise to be smooth. Bharti does need to deal with the intrinsic challenges of agri-business beyond its control like variations in quality of produce, APMC regulations, lack of standardisation, small land holdings, poor storage and transport infrastructure, et al. So that’s perhaps another cross!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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