FMCG Start-Ups In India Rely On Innovation, Pluck

The biggest hurdles for India’s start-up FMCG companies as they battle industry giants for market share are capital, retail shelf space, distribution, and marketing. They sometimes make strides through pure luck, but innovation and persistence are the most reliable vehicles to success. In its early days RAW Pressery, for example, an online marketer of cold-pressed juices, adapted Mumbai’s dabbawala hot-lunch delivery system based on bicycles and rail transport to deliver its juice products. Dabbawalas were able to deliver 50,000 purchases in three hours. Four years later, the company’s fleet of 25 refrigerated vehicles delivers its own juices as well as products for other brands. The end result is that RAW Pressery and other aggressive start-ups are able to peel off market share from bigwigs like Unilever, Nestlé, and others.