Building Brand Through B2B Route—Del Monte in India

Del Monte, a global food and beverage company, entered into Indian market in 2008. Del Monte established Joint Venture with Field Fresh which at that time dealt in exports of agricultural fresh produce. Yogesh Bellani, CEO of Field Fresh had the responsibility of establishing the Del Monte brand in India. Yogesh faced lots of challenges as there was very little brand awareness of the company and also there were many established players in the market. Del Monte first launched canned pineapples to be followed by canned fruit juices. Yogesh started building Del Monte brand on quality and timely delivery. Yogesh targeted big quick service restaurants (QSRs) like Dominos, Sub Way, MacDonald, Pizza Hut and Burger King for supplying its products. This was a unique way of establishing the brand through B2B route. After having established the brand through B2B route, Yogesh targeted B2C market. Del Monte launched several new products like tomato ketchup, entire Italian category, and eggless mayonnaise through modern trade route. In initial years, Yogesh established the brand and created revenue for the company. Subsequently he focussed on improving the profitability. His current challenge was to manage both which are conflicting in nature. He was also thinking of brand repositioning for future growth