Biyani sees big future in food, FMCG; forms panel to drive strategy

MUMBAI: The Future group has formed a management committee to spearhead its food and FMCG arm Future Consumer Enterprise (FCEL) and help achieve its ambitious target of growing annual sales fivefold to Rs 10,000 crore in the next five years.
The team includes founder Kishore Biya ni, director Ashni Biyani and top executives from various divisions, such as Food Park chief executive Praveen Dwivedi, fruits & vegetables division directors Sumit Saran and Vivek Dhume and recently-appointed FCEL CFO Manoj Saraf.



Over the next two months, the panel will help forge partnerships with as many as nine local and international food and personal care brands to make and distribute their products across FCEL’s retail chain formats.

The company has made top-level changes too. Food Bazaar CEO Devendra Chawla is elevated as group president, food and FMCG, and will be responsible for the group’s entire buying and merchandising operations. Murali Krishnan, CEO of the recently-acquired convenience chain Nilgiris, will also head the group’s other convenience store chain, KB’s Fair Price. Both executives will be part of the committee.

“FCEL has the potential to emerge as one of the largest FMCG companies in India with strong presence across home, personal care and food space,” Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani said.

“We will be developing a large branded food portfolio by launching regional products as well as bringing international brands through partnerships.” FCEL signed its first licensing agreement with California-based Sunkist Grow ers last year to launch its citrus beverage products in India, marking the group’s entry into consumer business outside its private label portfolio.

The company leads the integrated food strategy of Future Group that includes over three dozen own food and FMCG brands such as Tasty Treat and Clean Mate, investments in food parks and synergising retail chains such as KB’s Fair Price, Food Bazaar and Big Bazaar with the businesses the group acquired, Big Apple and Nilgiris, and rural chain Adhaar.





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