The Tasty Bite Story

The Turnaround Story

In 1997, HLL decided against venturing into the frozen foods business. Consequently, it sold TBEL to PBI. PBI appointed Ravi Nigam (Nigam) of Britannia Industries as the President. The new management worked out a strategic initiative, which was named the '4C approach,' for reviving the company and turning the business around (Refer Figure I). The four Cs strategy divided the core business into areas that needed to be focused on: Concentration, Conversion, Collaboration and Cultivation. As part of "Concentration, TBEL decided to invest in intensive research for its RTS products. The company also planned to expand its business globally as well as in India. A decision to enhance the business through e-business was also taken.

The second 'C' of the strategy - conversion - concerned entering into conversion contracts with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the Maharashtra Agricultural Development and Fertilizer Promotion Corporation (MAFCO) for utilizing TBEL's individual quick freezing (IQF)⁴ facility at its plant.

The third 'C'- collaboration – addressed the necessity of attaining optimum utilization of TBEL plant capacities through collaborations.

TBEL's 2,000-tonne cold storage facility for storing ice cream, pulp and vegetables was leased out to HLL and Tropicana (a juice brand from Pepsi).

As a result of this, capacity utilization of the plant reached 90% in 1998-99. The fourth 'C' - cultivation – was reflected in the initiatives taken at Bhandgaon, Maharashtra, where the company's 25-acre farm was situated. TBEL employed the local farmers and trained them in hi-tech methods of cultivation for producing high quality vegetables. This in-house sourcing of raw material enabled TBEL to maintain quality standards besides reducing its dependence on others. The company's expansion plans required a considerable amount of money. Payments for placing a product in just one store of a chain in US ranged between $ 5000 and $ 10,000.

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4] A cold storage technology, freezes cooked or raw food products at certain temperatures for retaining the texture,
nutrition and good taste.

Case Details

Case Code : MKTG015
Themes: Turnaround Strategy
Case Length : 6 Pages
Period : 1986-2001
Organization : Tasty Bite Eatables Ltd, HLL
Pub Date : 2001
Teaching Note : Available
Countries : India
Industry : Food, Beverages & Tobacco

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