The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), an apex body of distributors in the country, on Monday said that it will not accept orders or pursue sales targets set by Tata Consumer, the maker of brands such as Tata Salt and Tata Sampann, till long-standing issues pertaining to “dumping” of stock with trade were addressed. The company was not immediately available for comment till the end of press time.
But the AICPDF has claimed that stock worth Rs 50-60 crore alone had piled up among distributors in Maharashtra, prompting the body to press for its demands through a protest march that will be undertaken on November 4 to the company’s headquarters in Mumbai.
At the heart of the matter is the company’s strategy, says AICPDF’s national president Dhairyashil Patil, of pushing multiple products through the same distribution network including salt, tea, noodles under Ching’s Secret and Sampann, which includes packaged staples.
“While earlier the company had multiple distributors for different brands, now they are consolidating operations. This puts the distribution network under pressure, since all products don’t have uniform demand,” he told FE.
Apart from dumping of stock, AICDPF claims that the company has not addressed other operational challenges or sought to provide guidelines on handling damaged and unsold stock.
This isn’t the first time that AICDPF has raised issues with regard to FMCG companies. Earlier this year, the body had announced suspension of product purchases of Colgate-Palmolive India over unfair trade practices. The matter was subsequently resolved with the company.
In the past, the body has flagged issues with HUL’s margins to distributors and also raised concerns about excessive inventory build-up by Honasa Consumer, the maker of the Mamaearth brand of products.
