Reference no: EM133516365

Assignment:

In May 2020, amid the lockdown in India brought about by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, P.C. Musthafa, chief executive officer of iD Fresh Food (India) Private Limited (iD), a food company located in Bengaluru, India, was preparing for a virtual meeting with his co-founders. The company offered customers the value proposition of "freshness" and operated in the ready-to-cook (RTC) and ready-to-eat (RTE) segments. iD's flagship product was batter for preparing idlis and dosas, popular Indian breakfast dishes. Its other products include cottage cheese (paneer), curd, ready-to-heat Indian flatbreads (parathas and chapatis), filter coffee decoction, tender coconut, grated coconut, and batter for making vadas (a savoury fried snack).

The co-founders had to decide how to address the challenges arising on both the demand and the supply side of the business brought about by the pandemic, including production and logistics challenges on the supply side, a dip in demand, and the growth of competitors in the RTC and RTE segments. These challenges could potentially hamper iD's vision of growing into a 10-billion1 market leader, admired and trusted the world over, while also being one of the best and most sought-after companies to work for. How should iD plan its production amid the disruption to the supply chains and logistics sector brought on by the pandemic and ensure that its products maintain the promised value proposition of freshness? How could it ensure that customers continued to trust iD and not switch to the home-made batter or competitor products? Could iD's product ideas, logistics and distribution advantage, and strong employee base help it in scripting a fresh story and reach its vision of becoming a 10-billion company by 2023, despite an economy ravaged by the pandemic.

• What is the nature of the batter, ready-to-cook, and ready-to-eat segments in which iD operates? How does this industry impinge on the firms operating within it?
• What challenges did iD face in its initial years?
• What was iD's strategy to overcome challenges and build a brand in the initial years?
• How did iD attempt to script a fresh story by going "organic"?
• How might the coronavirus pandemic affect iD's story?
• Assess iD's management of the uncertainty associated with the pandemic. What should it do to reach its vision of becoming a 10-billion company by 2023 even amid the pandemic?