Normalise supply-chain problem: Britannia CEO

BENGALURU:

Britannia

said the packaged food industry has the risk of running out of stock in the next 7-10 days if the supply

chain

is not normalised immediately. The supply chain has been severely disrupted across the country from last Sunday, with many workers unable to go to factories, and transporters unable to move products.


“The food industry supply chain is disaggregated and dependent on inter-state movement of goods. Due to the nature of the materials, inventories across the chain are low. If even one link in the supply chain is broken, the country could run of stocks of packaged food in the next 7-10 days,” Britannia CEO

Varun Berry

said.

Many essential products have vanished from the shelves of supermarkets and local kirana

stores

. Movement of raw materials have been curtailed too, forcing companies like Britannia,

Parle

, and Unibic to cut production.

Berry’s remarks have been one of the strongest issued by an FMCG company. Previously Parle had expressed concerns, and Metro Cash & Carry India had said it was unable to open its wholesale stores as police threatened its employees to stay indoors.

Biscuit maker Unibic, whose sole factory in the outskirts of Bengaluru has been shut since Sunday, has been facing problems in transporting raw material such as palm oil, flavours and cashew nuts for its cookies. “While food is an essential item, it is difficult to make others understand that packing material, cartons, films are all part of it for delivery. I cannot sell the biscuits without packing,” said CEO Sreenivasulu Vudayagiri.

Parle Products category head Mayank Shah said it is not easy convincing local authorities, the district collector or the magistrates. "One needs permission for the entire supply chain. Movement of goods has to be allowed for everything, including ingredients and packaging material. Right now, it is a hand to mouth situation; whatever we are producing, we are moving out,” he said.