Patanjali claims to take on KFC, but its anti-MNC stand is self-destructive

PATANJALI - It was the early 2000s, and as a reporter I was on the trail of the country's biggest food marketer venturing into categories as diverse as pizzas, ice-cream mixes and value-added milk confectionery. There was a bravado in the way the top team of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) -- popularly known for and as Amul after its larger-than-life brand -- was dismissive of multinational firms dominant in the new markets it was entering.

"We know the modus operandi of the MNCs. We'll embarrass them everywhere," one senior manager told me. In fact, going by the tone and tenor of the conversation I had with the top team at GCMMF's Anand headquarters that sultry July afternoon 14 years ago, it was clear to me that anti-multinationalism, an article of faith with the cooperative besides cost-competitiveness, was getting the better of this otherwise fine institution.

Not that the deep-pocketed multinationals that GCMMF was taking on at that time were intimidated, but any competition from the country's largest integrated food marketer could not be taken lightly. For a while there was a din in the north Indian markets on Amul's plans for frozen Utterly Delicious ready-to-cook pizzas and Snowcap ice-cream mixes.

Fortunately for GCMMF that bravado didn't last long, and the firm quietly withdrew from the new markets, letting the Domino's, Pizza Huts and Perfettis rule the roost. Today, GCMMF is a much stronger firm, with revenues of over Rs 20,000 crore, and a target to more than double it to Rs 50,000 crore in the next four years. It is investing Rs 5,000 crore in its core milk procurement, processing and manufacturing facilities across the country.
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Shiv Sena forces 500 meat shops, KFC to shut in old Gurgaon

As many as 500 meat shops, including a KFC outlet, in old Gurgaon were allegedly shut down by over 200 Shiv Sainiks for nine days on account of Navratri.

They also threatened the shop owners yesterday to shut their establishments on every Tuesday.

"We have served notices to meat shop owners, including KFC, and other fast food outlets to shut their shops till Navratri ends and on every Tuesday," Gautam Saini, the president of Shiv Sena, Gurgaon, told PTI.

The Sena workers assembled at Palam Vihar yesterday and forced the closure of meat market and dhabas such as Bismillah Khan eatery in others areas too.

However, ACP-PRO of Gurgaon Police Manish Sehgal said some meats shops were shut down but they were later opened. These shops have commercial licence to sell meat. Strict action will be taken against those forcing closure of shops illegally. (READ MORE)

McDonald's, Pizza Hut & KFC are empowering Indian women; here's how

 Latest news today - American fast-food chains have become an unlikely source of female employment and empowerment in India, a country where traditionally most women are kept from working outside the home.

The increasingly female face of a new Indian workforce shines at suburban Delhi’s Mall of India. Close to half of the employees in its five floors of newly opened food and fashion outlets are women. Just across the street in the old shopping district, females are few and far between. Even the women’s clothing stores are almost entirely manned by men.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable working with so many other men there,” said Poonam Rawat, a 21-year-old woman who works at Wendy’s in the mall. “Besides, my family would never give me permission.”
Despite great progress in recent decades, India is still a tough place to be a woman. The country has one of the most-skewed sex ratios in the world, with men significantly outnumbering women, the result of selective abortion and infanticide. Girls suffer disproportionately from malnutrition and are less likely than in most other countries to be found in the best universities, parliament or the boardroom. They are even missing from the internet: There are three Indian men for every Indian woman on Facebook, for example, partly a result of women being denied access to technology (Read More).

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