IndiaRetailBiz

After boycotting Pepsico’s Frito Lay Potato chips a few months ago, India’s largest listed retailer Pantaloon Retail India, a part of the Kishore Biyani owned Future Group, has now set its guns on global confectionery giant Cadbury Schweppes.

The retailer has asked all its stores across formats, particularly the outlets of Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar retail chains, to remove Cadbury’s products from their shelves, as the the global confectioner in the retailer’s opinion, according to an ET report, is indulging in discriminatory practices.

Cadbury, according to Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani, is offering better deals to global retailers vis-a-vis modern retailers of Indian origin, says the report. This could be on account of the clout enjoyed by international retailers due to their reach and overall purchasing power.

“Multinational companies have to respect the contribution of Indian modern retailers to their growth and treat us as equal partners in business,” said Biyani.

Cadbury, on the other hand while expressing surprise at Future group’s decision, has rejected the claims of discriminatory deals. According to a senior Cadbury official, “Sales from emerging markets like India are vital to global sales and therefore, it is unlikely that Cadbury will discriminate on this front.”

The rift between the country’s largest chocolate maker and the country’s largest retailer Future Group has been in the making since the group began stocking its shelves with competing brands that offered higher profit margins. Tiffany’s is believed to have made an exclusive arrangement with the Future Group to launch its brands at Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar stores.

Apart from withdrawal of Frito Lay brands in mid-2007, Pantaloon had in May 2006 also withdrawn stocks of Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) brands from the shelves of its retail stores as the global FMCG major was refusing to offer higher margins demanded by the retailer.

Withdrawal of Frito-Lay’s brands from its shelves had led Pantaloon to boost sales its private label ‘Tasty Treats,’ as well as promote ITC’s products sold under ‘Bingo’ brand.