Apple food products

Submitted By: Vijesh Ramachandran Nair Rahul Varma Nithin Tulsian

Case Facts
O Well established company with market leader in all respective

brand categories.

O 6 Product Groups :

- Soft Drinks : 250ml & 500/1ltr Pet Bottle - Ice creams : Bulk & On premise Packs - RTE Foods : Modern retail & Catering.
O Got distributors for 5 product groups and only sales person for

Modern retail.

Case Facts
O The current distribution network and sales force are very well

established.
O The Distributors own the transports, i.e. van and the company

provide them with cold storages & deep freezers.

O The Current span of control managed by salesman is almost close

to 1
O The distributor's are just acting as financers and not working on

their re-distribution capabilities.

Problem
O The Distributors are not leveraging their primary duty of re-

distribution, its the company salesman who takes care of that part which isn't good for company.
O The role and responsibility of salesman as well as even though the

salespersons are from same company but the each category salesman never vest any interest in case they find any abrupt in their other product category products. Example:- Mis-use of cold storage by the retailer was ignored by the soft drink salesperson even though he knew its from same company and being mis-used.
O How should the sales and distribution re-organized and maintain

same efficiency level.

Suggestions/Solution
O The Distributors should be clearly instructed and mentored about

what their primary responsibility is, the name distributor itself means Distribute and here the distributors are shifted away from this responsibility and thus they should take care of it henceforth.
O The Current span of control is very lenient and thus it should be

changed to at least 1 salesperson to 3 distributors, event though this step will add up to 2/3rd of Salesperson without any job ,but as a business prospective the company should inform the salesperson around 6months prior itself that there will be a cut in number of sales heads based on performance with respect to long term prospect of business.

O The Salesperson for all the product category should be mentored

about working for the companies welfare and not with the habit of treating only designated product category as their sole single responsibility. For Example Next time if they notice any retailer mis using any of the company goods then they should voluntarily instruct the retailer to re-correct their actions and as well inform the respective product category head about the Conduct by the retailer.

Thank you