For quite sometime, woman CEOs like Chanda Kochhar, Shikha Sharma, Naina Lal Kidwai, Kalpana Morparia and Kaku Nakhate have been making waves in the world of finance, being at the helm of leading private and foreign banks. Public sector banks, on the other hand, have seen a bit of a dry spell, barring Renu Challu, MD, State Bank of Hyderabad. Of late, there has been a resurgence of women in the public sector as well. Nupur Mitra, an ED at Indian Overseas Bank, is set to take charge as chief of Dena Bank. Besides, a host of executive directors in large public sector banks are women. These include RV Iyer at Central Bank, Archana Bhargava at Canara Bank, and Shubhalakshmi Panse at Vijaya Bank.
Britannia diversifies into dairy, bakery items
Suddenly, the two leading biscuit companies—Britannia and Parle—which so far were competing with each other, find themselves being outnumbered by the smaller local/regional players, each having a market share of over 0.05%. These smaller players, considered an insignificant lot earlier, have now doubled in number in the last six years to about 70. Not only do these smaller players threaten to nibble at Britannia and Parle’s share, they have also managed to bring down the pricing power of these leaders, resulting in squeezed margins. Faced with competition from local and international players, Britannia is investing in its non-biscuit categories like dairy and bakery so that these contribute a larger portion to its turnover in the future to cushion its biscuit margins. It’s only then Britannia will be able to breathe easy!
Britannia diversifies into dairy, bakery items
Suddenly, the two leading biscuit companies—Britannia and Parle—which so far were competing with each other, find themselves being outnumbered by the smaller local/regional players, each having a market share of over 0.05%. These smaller players, considered an insignificant lot earlier, have now doubled in number in the last six years to about 70. Not only do these smaller players threaten to nibble at Britannia and Parle’s share, they have also managed to bring down the pricing power of these leaders, resulting in squeezed margins. Faced with competition from local and international players, Britannia is investing in its non-biscuit categories like dairy and bakery so that these contribute a larger portion to its turnover in the future to cushion its biscuit margins. It’s only then Britannia will be able to breathe easy!
