Inching Towards Stability, Growth

The only strategy that can be adopted by an organisation as dynamic as CG Corp Global and as manpower intensive as ours is to ‘stay calm and keep going’, Varun Chaudhary, Managing Director, CG Corp Global tells Pooja Malik of BW Businessworld. Excerpts of the interview:

What is your success mantra?

My mantra is very simple. Acquire knowledge; do the hard work and persevere in order to succeed. And let’s not forget that we have to also ‘enjoy the process’ while we are at it.

What is the approach of CG Global? What are the challenges ahead for the Indian food/snacking industry?

The vision statement or philosophy of CG Global lies in its simplicity. As a global company, we give utmost importance in upholding the human dignity without any discrimination. And, creating value for the customer and subsequently for the nation too, through our services and products.

According to a survey, the Indian food market was expected to reach $894.98 billion by 2020, well that didn’t happen and we all know the reason. The major challenges faced by the snack industry are in terms of demand and supply side bottlenecks and infrastructure bottlenecks. A major share of India’s food processing sector is occupied by the snacks segment. Though the Covid-19 crisis has severely impacted the snack market but it is slowly and gradually inching towards stability, growth and revival.

Most of the sectors have witnessed a shift in consumer behaviour post-pandemic. What was it like for the instant noodle category?

There has been an almost paradigm décalage in India’s culinary tradition and practices. Prior to the pandemic times, consumption of packaged food was limited and there was apprehension among consumers towards it. People were more inclined towards purchasing loose food items from the trusted shopkeepers or grocers. How-so-ever, with the current COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown situations, the lean in towards packaged foods that came with promises of hygiene, safe packaging, and convenience is far higher. As a result of this packed foods such as instant ready-to-eat items and frozen foods have gained popularity.

In India, the market for instant noodles category is made up mainly by the millennials, Gen X and Z. The work-from-home mode and recently the hybrid mode are accompanied with frequent snack munching. This has been surging the demand in the instant noodles category, and also the demand for savoury snacks, confectionaries, etc. has been rising. This crisis has made the consumers far more accepting of the instant and ready-to-eat food products, which has resulted in the growth of manufacturing, processing, distribution as well as marketing of these items.

What are your thoughts on winning the YEA 2021? How do these initiatives encourage the entrepreneurial ecosystem?

 It is a very humbling and at the same time a very encouraging experience to win the Young Entrepreneur Award. Initiatives like these are always an advantage for the support and the endorsement this award represents. Such recognitions motivate young entrepreneurs like me to keep marching forward.