One Indian FMCG companies doing business in Bangladesh, which has been affected by widespread unrest for weeks, say that now their business is slowly returning to normal. Many Indian companies manufacturing fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) also have business in Bangladesh. These include Marico, Dabur, Emami, Pidilite Industries, Britannia and Godrej Consumer Products. Apart from these, Jubilant Foodworks Limited (JFL), which operates Domino’s Pizza chain, also operates about 30 stores in Bangladesh.
Business activities had come to a standstill
Bangladesh was hit by internal unrest and violence in the first week of August. All business activities came to a standstill after anti-government protests took a violent turn. However, the situation is gradually coming under control since the formation of an interim government last week. Marico has said that its manufacturing units located in Bangladesh started functioning normally on August 11. The company said, “The operating conditions in the market are gradually improving and a large part of our retail workforce and distributors have started working.”
Marico has a big business
Bangladesh accounts for 44 per cent of Marico’s international business. It has two factories and five depots there. It formed a subsidiary Marico Bangladesh in 1999, which is a listed entity on the stock exchanges there. Dabur India also said that its factories and stock holding traders have started operating normally after a week-long shutdown. Dabur Chief Executive Officer Mohit Malhotra said, “We are closely monitoring the situation and we will make all efforts to restore normalcy in operations.”
560 people died
He said Bangladesh contributes less than one per cent to Dabur’s consolidated revenue and less than 0.5 per cent to its profits. Another domestic company, Emami, also has a presence in Bangladesh but it is smaller in size. Bangladesh contributes about four per cent to Emami’s total consolidated revenue. More than 230 people have been killed in Bangladesh in incidents of violence that erupted across the country after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5. This has increased the death toll to 560 since the protests began in mid-July.
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