Memoirs.....Musings of a sales guy at heart.....

Episode 21....

IDV----journey continues....Memoirs.....Musings of a sales guy at heart.....

CSD...

Canteen Stores Department ie CSD is the only source to supply to the defence force....they have canteens (stores) across the country in almost all the states including the border areas....and getting in to CSD is not only difficult but a long haul also. But once you get in there and with proper foot work and if your brands are good, you are sure to get some consistent volumes as the consumers are captive. GOI has given special concessions to the armed forces by cutting down the taxes and hence the price of all the brands across categories are cheaper in CSD compared to the domestic markets. In big cities they have huge walk in stores also. Big companies enjoy a sizable share of their business coming from CSD.

Having said that due to their tough procedures and the process involved getting listed takes longer than one can imagine. First there is something called PSC committee and once it passes through this committee (many get rejected here itself if your brands dont qualify the norms-every category of alcohol has a different norm-CSD made a major exemption to Bottled in India Scotches and allowed almost all the BII Scotches to get listed with lesser procedural hassles) and after PSC they do a distillery check if you are new and the unit is not listed, they also insist on your brand being sold in atleast a minimum of 5 states and once these things are done, there is a price negotiation committee and then you get qualified. The companies have to pay some kind of Bank Guarantee too.....

The states always have issues with CSD as some stocks tend to leak in to the domestic market, not in a big way-but in trickles-due to its price advantage. And the states keep hiking their duties for CSD supplies.

CSD was given to me. We pushed thru SMV as it was an international brand like BII Scotch but when it came to other brands it was struggle. But we quoted for both Gilbey's old gold and Green Label and after lots of running around came to the final stage of price negotiation. CSD chairman, categorically said it would be only one brand and asked me to choose....Didnt have much time and without consulting DR, I took a call and stuck to Green Label.

I think that was one of the wisest decision, in retrospect as that brand started giving us some volumes from CSD...we also got Christian Brothers listed.

But I think I was unfair to one person in the whole deal. KN Sharma who helped me with all the paper works and introductions with CSD and very well net worked....Some misunderstanding with him and after the listing I got the agency changed to Sankalp...Sankalp was the major agent to CSD and also had their own brands. Kamdar, Ashar and Gowlikar......these three were a great team to work with...and they did a good job for our brands.

Smirnoff and Green got in to CSD and also CB brandy....I have written about CSD for those who do not know about this one huge channel. Their reach is something really phenomenal and unimaginable....The opportunity for FMCG is really huge in this channel but it has to be managed with utmost professionalism and commitment as this channel services our beloved armed forces. But the process are still archaic and dont think much has changed in terms of process.....getting in is long drawn but once you are in and you have a good brand, CSD is life long....

We made Rajkumar in charge of CSD with regions supporting him. Rajkumar learnt the nuances quite rapidly and mastered it....my job was more in to relationship management and also strategic inputs. Biggies had very seniors managing this channel with a full team to support them as the numbers justified such huge deployment. CSD was managed as a separate RPC by USL....you can imagine the contribution!!!

Apart from CSD there are CRPF, BSF and others who float tenders on an annual basis and based on certain criteria award the tenders...but this is small business as they all float the tenders individually.

So just a brief on the most important channel in India. 

Till next....

Enjoy life and be safe.....