US Chocolate Maker Kept Milk Marketing Federation In The Dark Over Alliance With Godrej

US chocolate maker Hershey happens to be wooing Amul, India’s premier milk co-operative, for a possible distribution alliance even as it was seeking government permission to strike a final joint venture with Godrej Beverages & Foods. What has outraged a section in Amul is the fact that when its senior official met the Hershey team on February 28, (the day ET reported details of Hershey’s application dated February 19 to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board seeking permission for the JV with Godrej) and asked if the report was true, Hershey officials rubbished it saying, “Don’t trust media reports.” This prompted Amul to consider Hershey’s proposal for a possible distribution alliance so seriously that a team of senior executives was even planning a visit to Hershey’s manufacturing facility in the US sometime in May. Last weekend, senior Amul executives told ET that discussions between the two were on track and refused to believe that the US company had decided to go with Godrej. When contacted Hershey’s president and CEO Richard H Lenny refused to comment on the issue terming it as “confidential information”. A detailed questionnaire sent last Friday to Hershey on the possibility of an alliance with Amul did not elicit a denial. “As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on speculation,” replied the company spokesperson. However the MD of Amul, Mr BM Vyas said, “Hershey approached us with the proposal because it needed us more than we did. It is certainly not our loss. Whatever has happened, has happened for the good.” A senior Amul official who did not wish to be quoted was more blunt: “Hershey’s value system appears to be flawed.”

Courtesy: EconomicTimes
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