ITC Limited has finalized a share purchase agreement to acquire a hundred percent of the equity share capital of SFPL, a Kolkata-based company primarily engaged in the product distribution of spices under the trademark Sunrise. The acquisition will help ITC expand its regional FMCG business and an already extensive product line involving several products from packaged foods to personal care products.

Sunrise Foods Pvt. Ltd, with a market presence and experience exceedingly more than 100 years, has a strong market position in the rapidly-evolving spices sector of the eastern part of India, with secure rural linkage for procurement of raw materials and extensive agriculture-commodity sourcing expertise with evolved packaging experience. While already making inroads into overseas markets such as Nepal and Bangladesh, Sunrise Foods has been touted to engage in business opportunities in high-growth locations. The company is poised to interact in areas such as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and other Western countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States.

The company representatives have stated that the proposed acquisition is in line with the company strategy to scale up its business in the spices market through a more comprehensive distribution network and strong cuisine expertise. The company already markets spices products under its Aashirvaad brand, with the acquisition set to further strengthen its footprint in the vastly evolving spices market scenario in the region. ITC has already been scaling its spices business in demand-rich areas such as Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with the company already aspiring to become a significant producer and exporter of premium-quality spices.

ITC is looking to leverage the deeper consumer connect and distribution expertise of Sunrise Foods in the pan-Indian markets, combining the brand with its sourcing and supply chain capabilities. The move will also strengthen the agricultural business of ITC Limited in focused markets with new product ranges and supply hubs. The company’s objective is to set up a significant turnover with strong product sales in other departments as it aims to expand revenue generation streams away from the cigarettes business to FMCG products. ITC already houses several popular FMCG brands like Aashirvaad food & kitchen ingredients, Vivel beauty products, B Natural beverages, and juices, Bingo! Chips, and Yippee! Noodles.

The acquisition has been termed as a signal of positive intent for the company in its product portfolio diversification, as more and more consumers are shifting attention towards the branded sector of Indian spices. The rapid growth of the organized spices sector in recent times has been a testament to the possibilities of new business opportunities for the key players operating in the market. The ITC brand association with trust, premium quality, and total safety would encourage consumers to prefer repetitive commodity purchases. The development would also enhance the company’s objective of intensifying the competitiveness of agro-value chains in the domestic sector while completing meaningful contributions to the farmer income revenue. The premeditated transactions were completed during the Covid-19 restrictions, also reflecting the company’s tenacity and flexibility in dealing with the evolving market conditions.

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The store owners can easily customize their inventory to be displayed online and control the aesthetic look and feel of their online stores. Customers, on the other hand, can easily access Facebook Shops through the store pages, Instagram profiles, or advertisements. The products that draw consumer interest can be readily saved, with an additional feature of placing the order without closing the app if the business has enabled product checkout in the United States. Besides, customers can also contact the store owners in Facebook Shops through Instagram Direct, WhatsApp, and Messenger for product-related queries, after-sales support, and tracking of deliveries.

The move closely follows the company’s release of the State of Small Business Report that details a recent survey of 86,000 small business owners in the United States during the time of shutdowns and closures due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Results from the study reveal a whopping thirty-one percent of businesses that report the closure of all operations. However, interestingly, fifty-one percent of companies disclosed a rise in online interactions with clients, and thirty-six percent of personal businesses using online tools relayed the conduction of all their sales online. The survey suggests that small-scale enterprises are increasingly moving on to strengthen their online presence, even making online transactions their primary sales channel during these unprecedented times.

The small business owners and managers are pretty crucial to the company, as, by their admission, much of the revenue generated from advertisements come from such small businesses. In the evolving scenario of Covid-19 implications on the market, it is vital that such businesses must stay afloat and continue to contribute to the company coffers, much akin to Google. Facebook has thus been proactively assisting small- and medium-scale companies to fortify their online presence and run independently on e-commerce sites.

The company is thus partnering with BigCommerce, Shopify, Channel Advisor, Woo, CedCommerce, Feedonomics Tienda Nube, and Cafe24, to help new brands bring their products into Facebook Shops. The brand owners can also use such third-party platforms to manage their presence on Facebook Shops, along with social ads related to those Shops. The owners will also be able to integrate their Shops profile across all Facebook apps, thereby increasing their visibility through stories and posts that are frequently shared on such social media platforms. The owners will also be able to tag their products during live social media broadcasts.

Another additional feature of the online Facebook Shops allows customers to virtually try on accessories such as sunglasses and personal cosmetic products using Facebook’s augmented reality technology and its extensively developed AI features. Moreover, the company also has plans to incorporate customer loyalty programs and reward bonuses through Facebook Shops directly linked to the user’s Facebook profile.

The changing market dynamics and negligible footfall in physical retail stores would affect small businesses severely. As such, it is increasingly convenient for such stores to transition to online e-commerce sites that would provide them with a readily accessible consumer base for product sales. As such, the move from Facebook has been touted as its biggest yet foray into the e-commerce marketplace, which will easily complement the future business strategies of the company, including Live Shopping and Instagram Shop.

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