CARGOCONNECT-AUGUST 2025 - Flipbook - Page 64
PANEL 3
BUILDING RESILIENT E-COMMERCE SUPPLY CHAINS
“Over the past two years, the price of
cocoa has skyrocketed—from about
$2,000 per metric ton to as high as
US$12,000. Despite this extreme price
in昀氀ation, the price of consumer products like chocolate biscuits or other
cocoa-based snacks hasn't increased
signi昀椀cantly. How did companies manage
that? It came down to foresight and
planning. To deal with this, most food
manufacturers already had a Plan B.
That included using cocoa substitutes, switching to di昀昀erent parts of the
cocoa plant that are more a昀昀ordable, or even using natural identical 昀氀avors to
mimic the chocolate taste in products. Natural colour alternatives also helped
maintain product appeal without driving up costs. So, while we couldn’t change
the global price of cocoa, we found ways to reduce dependency on the raw
material and cushion the impact. A similar shift is happening with hazelnuts,
particularly those sourced from Turkey, which is the world’s largest supplier.
Due to various disruptions, many of us are now actively scouting for alternate
sources. Again, this wasn’t a last-minute reaction—it was anticipated.”
UNNIKRISHNAN VIJAYAN, Head– Raw Material Procurement,
ITC (Food Div.) (MODERATOR)
“The nature of disruption has
evolved. It’s more frequent, more
global, and more complex. The way
we respond needs to evolve too. So,
what can companies do? First, you
need visibility. You have to be able
to see where disruptions might come
from, whether it's a supplier shutting
down, a port closing, or a raw material shortage. But visibility alone isn't
enough. Next comes optionality. You
need to have fallback plans—alternate suppliers, alternate routes, and alternate
production hubs. You might never use them, but you must know they exist
and can be activated if needed. Then there’s 昀氀exibility. It’s one thing to have
options, but another to be able to execute them. Most supply chains follow
a rigid path—A to B to C to D. If suddenly B becomes unavailable and you
need to shift from A directly to C, can your systems, processes, and teams
adapt in real time? Often, the answer is no. It’s like the emergency drills we
ignore until the 昀椀re actually breaks out. And 昀椀nally, it’s about the speed of
decision-making. Even if you have visibility, options, and 昀氀exibility, they’re
meaningless without quick action.”
COL (RETD) RAZZAQUE ADIL, Sr Operations Manager, Amazon India
“When we talk about agility, it goes
beyond delivery timelines and includes
the ability to adapt the product mix
based on customer behaviour—for
example, how frequently a customer
reorders the same item from a platform.
These factors in昀氀uence how D2C companies shape their operations and the
technologies they invest in. Customer
expectations vary based on product
categories, and so do the metrics used
to meet those expectations. For instance, about 80% of customers might say
they want one-day delivery. Meanwhile, around 70% are willing to tolerate
a one-day delay if they are given proper visibility—like timely tracking
updates and clear information on where their product is at any point in
the supply chain. Then there’s a more premium segment—roughly 95% of
those buying high-end or gift-worthy items expect same-day delivery. These
varying expectations drive D2C businesses to build more tailored models
and continuously 昀椀ne-tune their operations. Despite progress by companies,
there’s still ample opportunity to improve e昀케ciency and create an even more
seamless, responsive consumer.”
“At Fresh2Go, we’ve made some
deliberate choices to respond faster
and smarter to demand, starting with
how we handle forecasting. Rather
than forecasting at a broad daily
level, we divide each day into six
distinct time slots and analyse both
forecast and actual performance in
each of those slots. We’ve developed a
system with built-in algorithms that
automatically take decisions based
on the performance in the previous cycle. So, at an SKU level, if we suddenly
see a spike in demand for a particular product in a speci昀椀c hub or area, the
system recognises the spike and adjusts the replenishment quantity for the
next cycle accordingly. This enables much more responsive and localised
inventory decisions without requiring manual intervention. Shorter shelf life
is another factor that demands agility. For standard products, replenishing
once a day or even once every two days is often su昀케cient. But for products
with a shelf life of just one to two days, you need more frequent replenishment
cycles. We often go up to two or three cycles a day. This increases the cost
of the middle mile slightly, but the payo昀昀 is signi昀椀cant.”
BHARATH SAMPATH, Sr Manager– Supply Chain Management,
Herbalife Nutrition
ABHIJEET KAKANI, Head of FTH Daily and Head of Planning and
Replenishment, FreshToHome Foods
64 | CARGOCONNECT AUGUST 2025
