Vishal S S (cbedit@imaws.org)
Starting as a trader of ice-creams, Shree Nakoda Distributors was established in 2005 in Mumbai. Moving ahead, the company had started to establish the firm by adding some bakery items. This enabled consumer demand which led to buying more products of bakery items. At present, the company is completely concentrating on the distribution of bakery ingredients. Sampatlal Sancheti, Proprietor, Shree Nakoda Distributors, Mumbai speaks on the current scenario and what is key for the food distributors.
The growth of the company was initially calculated when the firm was supplying only a very small unit of products. Companies like Merwans, Ribbons and Balloons were not big previously. Now they are the cream customers. “We were supplying more quantities of products during the festival. It was a prompt service with availability in all 365 days without any breaks. It is only about the hard work and customers we were growing”, said Mr. Sampatlal Sancheti.
The distributor handles some of the major brands in India. The selling ratio touches up to 150 tons every month, sometimes it goes up to 250 to 300 tons during December. Shree Nakoda Distributors is mainly focused and authorized in Mumbai. Some products are imported and distributed to the south and west part of India. The majority of the products that are distributed are mainly inside Mumbai.
Demand and Price Variations
When it comes to demand, it is about the seasonal demand in terms of sales. The main focus from the customers will always be chocolate. In the case of year-end, every aspect of sales expands because of the new year. Seasonal demand is only for a specific category like chocolate will be present in almost all the cookie items. Therefore the chocolate content items are having more demand.
The Covid-19 Pandemic has created an impact in every sector, but it has not much impacted the demand in the bakery industry. People at present are ready to spend more money for getting a valuable and quality product. At present people are ready to spend at the same time, do some savings and pay for the service.
“When the pandemic started there was a price variation because all the bakeries were shut down. However special preferences were given by the authority for distributing essential goods. All the bakeries are having a boom every December because of the seasonal and year-end sales demand”. added Sampatlal Sancheti.
Major Challenges
The major challenge at present is the increase in the price of fuel commodities in all areas. This is really affecting the economic stage of a business like giving salaries to the employees. The demand on the other side is getting high but there is no supply for matching this demand. Products like chocolates and cream prices have been increased from 15 to 20 percent. The fluctuation in the price after the pandemic is affecting. At this stage, it is very difficult to convey these to the customers.
Before the pandemic, there were enough goods stocked. Since Certain products had government approvals, so there wasn’t any stoppage on clearance even though there was a restriction on import and export duties during the time of the pandemic. The company makes sure all the formalities and consignments are clear before the import process.
Marketing Strategy
Digital Marketing is a major and biggest tool that is being used in this industry to reach out to consumers. In the case of the bakery industry, the digital marketing tool doesn’t work properly. It is very necessary to initiate some physical field visits for the product demo for convincing the customer. At the same time, free sample products need to be handed over for trial use.
Speaking on the importance of distributors in a supply chain, he says, “Research and Development for a particular brand are being literally developed every day. Therefore it is very necessary to understand the latest products and their quality. As in a distributor plays a major key role in between the company and the customer. Distributors are like middle man. It is very important to keep track of the competitive brands for more sales”. added Sampatlal Sancheti.
Expansion Plans
When it comes to expansion plans, Shree Nakoda Distributors have already entered the HoReCa division by introducing ‘Monin’ brand and distributing the products in Mumbai Market. As a distributor, he did not face such challenges as the brand was already known among the customers. This brand has almost 70 percent market share in India.
BEST WISHES FROM
