``The employees have agreed to a five-day week at Godrej Foods. The initiative has come into effect from June 1, this year,'' said Awasthi. He said that given the high levels of transparency between the management and employees, the company has been able to implement such a cost-cutting initiative. A five-day week roughly translates into a 15 per cent cut in take-home salaries.

``Given the regular implementation of TPM tools, transparency has been maintained about the functioning and the financial position of the company. Every morning we hold prayer meetings where an informal interaction takes place with the employees,'' said Awasthi.

He said that as part of the cost-cutting initiative, the senior management has not beengiven increments this year. ``Further, other perks like loans to the senior management, foreign trips, etc. have been stalled as a small measure towards cost- cutting,'' he said. Godrej Foods has been incurring losses for the past one year and is striving hard to bounce back in the black. The company posted a net loss of Rs 10.8 crore in the year 1998-99. Turnover during the period stood at Rs 459.69 crore.

The company has appointed management consultants Andersen Consulting to draw out a restructuring plan which is expected to result in a cost saving of upto Rs 10-12 crore at the end of the programme. The company hopes to turnaround in the current fiscal.

The consulting firm has suggesting downsizing for the company as another cost saving measure which would improve productivity. The total employee strength at Godrej Foods is 557 employees. ``We plan to bring down the workforce by around 168 to 126 workers. We may also plan a VRS (voluntary retirement scheme) to this end,'' said Awasthi, adding thatthecompany intends to make any such scheme as painless as possible. However, the company has not worked out details on the same.

Besides, the company is infusing fresh equity of Rs 40-60 crore which will bring down the high interest costs of Rs 19.37 crore and borrowings which stand at around Rs 120 crore.

Among other measures, the company is looking at exiting from non-core areas of businesses like mineral water and squashes. These are largely franchisee businesses for the company with very small margins. The company plans to consolidate on edible oils as its core area of business, and is expected to launch a number of products this year, said Awasthi.

Godrej Foods manufactures edible oils under various brands like Godrej Sunflower, Cooklite and Zesta. The company also makes the Jumpin' and Xs range of tetrapak fruit drinks.