🍫 Indian chocolate brands vs cocoa prices; BigBasket is going all-in on quick commerce

The most interesting news selected specially for you! 28 April 2024 [View in Browser]( POWERED BY Hello, YourStory will host its first-ever developer conference, [DevSparks 2024]( in Bengaluru on May 4. The tech summit will host 1,000+ developers, engineers and technologists, and showcase the latest developer innovations in the emerging tech ecosystem. In today's newsletter, we will talk about: - Cocoa prices affect Indian chocolate brands - BigBasket is going all-in on quick commerce - Ather eyes $1B valuation - Pine needles for livelihood support - Women in local governance Here’s your trivia for today: What is the world's oldest theatre site in continuous use? --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- In-Depth Cocoa prices affect Indian chocolate brands October last year, the price of cacao beans has skyrocketed. For the first time, cocoa (roasted cacao beans) now costs more than $10,000 per metric tonne—a 3X rise in just six months. The steep price of the raw ingredients has spooked the budding craft chocolate industry in India, leaving many chocolatiers with no option but to pass on the cost to consumers. Bittersweet taste: - Distinct Origins, one of Asia’s largest fine-flavour cocoa processing plants, procured the raw beans at Rs 820 per kg on April 3 compared with Rs 250 through most of December. - Regal Plantations Co-founder Karthikeyan Palaniswamy has identified a larger opportunity in exporting these beans to a more mature market, including to Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe. - Distinct Origins chief Chaitanya Muppala, who is also Founder and CEO of chocolate brand Manam Chocolate, is not yet planning to hike the prices of his products and is waiting to see how the prices will fluctuate over the next couple of months. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From the CapTable Be quick or be dead: BigBasket’s quick commerce evolution Tata-owned BigBasket was late to the quick commerce party, belatedly launching its quick commerce offering BBnow in April 2022. Even then, it wasn’t convinced about the staying power of quick commerce. In mid-2022, BigBasket CEO Hari Menon said that 80% of the business would continue to come from its slotted delivery service. Cut to 2024, and it appears Menon may have misread the tea leaves. The bullishness around quick commerce is stronger than ever before. In fact, according to one BigBasket executive and a Tata Digital executive, BigBasket has lost e-grocery market share to quick commerce players. Even for BigBasket, which still refuses to go all in on quick commerce, BBnow is doing more orders than its slotted delivery business. While the slotted delivery business does about 250,000 orders a day, BBnow does 300,000 orders a day, on average, Menon said. With two-hour deliveries, BigBasket’s slotted delivery offering is even starting to look quick commerce-adjacent. In fact, Menon told The CapTable that the slotted delivery service will soon fulfil orders within one hour and, eventually, converge with BBnow. Key Takeaways: - A late entrant, BigBasket is playing catch up with Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto in the quick commerce space. - The company’s belated entry was due to scepticism about the viability of the business two years ago. Today, BigBasket’s quick commerce biz generates more orders than its mainstay, slotted delivery. - The company is so bullish on quick commerce now that it is considering merging its slotted delivery service with its quick commerce business. - The company has a few tricks up its sleeve as it looks to make up for lost time, including finding synergies with other Tata Group companies. [Continue Reading]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Funding Ather eyes $1B valuation Ather Energy is expected to raise around $95 million in a pre-IPO funding round, which would help the electric two-wheeler maker secure a spot in the unicorn club with its valuation crossing a billion dollars, two sources aware of the developments told YourStory. Public issue: - Hero MotoCorp, among Ather’s largest shareholders, could participate in the round as it looks to shore up its stake in the startup. - “Ather wants to go to the public market with its cash reserves sorted out and on a strong footing,” said one of the sources privy to internal discussions. - According to an ET report, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal could sell his entire stake in Ather to Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath. Bansal holds over 10% of the company's shares. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Startup Pine needles for livelihood support and Himachal Pradesh have an abundance of pine trees that shed their resin-rich, highly flammable needles onto the forest floor. They also decompose slowly in the environment and are responsible for increasing the surface run-off of water and decreasing the groundwater table. PIRUL Handicrafts, founded by Nupur Poharkar in 2021, makes artefacts from these pine needles. In the local dialect of Uttrakhand, 'Pirul' means using pine needles to make products. To date, the startup has sold about 8,000 products. Upcycling: - The startup works with women from Khetikhan and other remote villages near the Nepal border and Almora district. - PIRUL Handicrafts offers planters, earrings, serving trays, and store boxes, among many other products. It has upcycled 20,000 kg of pine needles to date. - Its home decor products are priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000, lifestyle products between Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,800, while fashion items start from Rs 250. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Inspiration Women in local governance the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act that reserves one-third of electoral seats for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), India has seen active participation from women in local governance. According to the Observer Research Foundation, more than 1.45 million women are shaping local decision-making. HerStory takes a closer look. Marching ahead: - Jitendra Pandit, Associate Director of Governance at Transform Rural India, believes that women in local governance ensure greater access for women from marginalised communities to frequent public institutions to raise their voices. - In Rajasthan’s Lambi Ahir in Jhunjhunu district, Neeru Yadav, who took over as sarpanch in 2020, is fondly called the ‘Hockeywali Sarpanch’ after she formed a girls hockey team in her village. - Besides a ‘bartan bank’ and infrastructure facilities like roads, rainwater harvesting, and more, Yadav also launched a skill development programme for girls under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana Scheme. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News & Updates - [Investments:]( The Inter-American Development Bank said 10 multilateral development banks have committed to taking action in five critical areas, including additional lending headroom, totalling $300-400 billion over the next decade. The effort comes amid growing calls to boost financing with favourable conditions to developing countries. - [Upbeat results:]( General Motors on Tuesday posted quarterly results that topped Wall Street targets and raised its annual forecast, citing stable pricing and demand for its gas-engine vehicles, sending shares up 5%. - [Sinking cities:]( Almost half of China's major cities are sinking, putting millions of locals at risk of flooding, according to a new study published in the journal Science. The study found that 45% of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3 mm a year, while 16% was sinking at a rate of more than 10 mm a year. Did you know? What is the world's oldest theatre site in continuous use? Answer: The Theatre Royal Drury Lane. It has been a site for entertainment since 1663. We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail nslfeedback@yourstory.com. If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, [sign up here](. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our [Daily Capsule page here](. [Feedback]( [Unsubscribe]( [Newsletters](