FMCG sector needs to incorporate tech in the supply chain: Geetika Mehta

Retail automation is revolutionising the FMCG sector, streamlining operations and enhancing customer experiences. From cashier-less checkouts to personalised recommendations, it's reshaping how we shop and interact with fast-moving consumer goods. To shed more light on ‘retail automation - shaping up the new world of FMCH’, present in a conversation with Naziya Alvi Rahman, Editor, exchange4media, at the e4m Techmanch conference held recently in Mumbai was Geetika Mehta, Managing Director, Hershey's India.

Mehta opened the session by talking about the steps that she has taken as a leader to win the digital transformation race. According to Mehta, she does not look at it as a race that she has or the brand Hershey’s has to win individually but how as an industry we can all move together where the consumer is moving. She added “How do we harness the potential that digital brings along is a question that we at Hershey's often ask ourselves. We do several things - the first one is basic digital upskilling that is needed for everybody in order to understand this channel better, and the next thing is to earmark the same amount of resources - not in terms of money but also time as leaders.”

Talking about the challenges that the FMCG industry brings and how tech can help solve those, Mehta emphasises that there is always an element of freshness involved with the food FMCG sector and the use of technology in the supply chain can help keep that intact. Additionally, the consumers have migrated and brands have to be where consumers are, and because of that FMGG brands have to be top-of-mind and that is something that tech can solve.

She further shed light on how chocolates are an exponentially growing segment in the FMCG sector, in fact, today the biggest part of Hershey’s turnover comes from chocolates and it is the biggest part of the Hershey portfolio in India. While exponentially growing, they also pose a challenge to manufacturers in terms of melting in a tropical climate such as India’s, technology has helped solve that problem in terms of tracking the data of their mini fridges used in transport.