Bisleri plans to enhance its online portfolio as Covid impacts biz

We are optimistic for the future as we believe that things will improve. We are hopeful that most sectoral trends will stabilize in the next 4-6 quarters, and we will have a new baseline for the industry, says Angelo George, CEO of Bisleri

New Delhi: As offline businesses remain impacted amid the pandemic, Bisleri plans to go big with its e-commerce plans and enhance its online portfolio into more tier-2 cities.

The company had launched its e-commerce portal 'Bisleri@Doorstep' last year providing access to the full range of its products.

Observing that e-commerce growth has possibly been one of the few positive stories in times of the pandemic, Angelo George, CEO of Bisleri International Pvt Ltd said: "We have tied up with leading online delivery partners to scale up our servicing ability across the top 40 cities. In some cities, we leverage logistics partners to ensure our e-commerce deliveries happen in 3 hours, rather than the usual 24 hours." In an interaction with IANS, the CEO said that the company is now expanding to tier-2 cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Chandigarh, Ludhiana among others.

He said that the portal is witnessing almost 2.5 times more traction since the beginning of the new fiscal with its consumer engagement initiatives.

George also said that with the company's strategy of being closer to the market for agility and service, it is increasing its manufacturing capacities in key markets. On the impact of the pandemic on businesses, he said that the overall general trade and modern trade business have been reassuring even though the segments like 'HORECA', referred to the food and hospitality services industry, and corporates are still muted.

"We are optimistic for the future as we believe that things will improve. We are hopeful that most sectoral trends will stabilize in the next 4-6 quarters, and we will have a new baseline for the industry," he said.

Speaking on the product front, the Bisleri CEO noted that the company has recently conducted a soft launch of its 'Bisleri Hand Purifiers' which come in three variants. "We will officially announce the launch of the Bisleri Hand Purifiers soon."

Further, Bisleri has re-launched the 'Fizzy Fruit Drinks' as a healthier option. It has launched three brands -- Fonzo, Limonata and Spyci with different price points of Rs 10, 20 and 40.

Regarding the company's efforts towards relief and safety of its employees amid Covid-19, he said that the staff has been housed closer to the plants to reduce exposure in certain locations.

"Processes are in place to ensure the safety of the delivery personnel's trade and consumers -- like sanitizing vehicles after every trip and protective gear for delivery staff. Apart from regular medical insurance, we have provided additional Covid insurance of Rs 3 lakh.

"To provide employees further reassurance in the eventuality of an unfortunate case of death, we provide them cover of three years' salary."

Bisleri recently set up a clean plastic segregation and collection facility in Mumbai. He said that the Marol Clean Plastic Segregation Plant is its vision of the future, how plastic segregation and bailing plants will look like if people dispose of the plastic in clean condition.

"The Marol Plant is India's first pure plastic collection and segregation plant made of recycled plastic. The interiors of Marol Plant, the first of its kind have been created using 1, 50,000 MLP (Multi-layer plastic) recycled bags (biscuits, chips, and chocolate wrappers) as partitions."