Just read this short piece on LinkedIn posted by Harshad Shah about how the “toffee” or candy business got impacted by UPI.
Actually it’s a blessing in disguise !! Before the advent of UPI, if you didn’t have change at a departmental store or even a corner “potti kadai” (kiosk) the shopkeeper would hand out candies for the balance amount.
All the candy majors like Mondelez, Mars, Nestle and Parle reported excellent growth based off this “Candy for Change” scheme unwittingly adopted by the shopkeepers. Now they have huge losses !!
Health impact of candies aka toffees – it’s a sugar rush. Do read this short excerpt from the book – Death By Supermarket to understand how harmful sugar is.
“……Sugar is a white, crystalline stimulant that offers zero nutritional value. Since refined white sugar is devoid of the vitamins and minerals necessary to digest and metabolize itself, your body ends up depleting vitamins and minerals from your diet or from internal stores in order to digest it.”
So am very glad that the candy makers are losing business – children are gaining health and their teeth back 😔.
Reposting Mr. Harshad Shah’s note –
UPI" is killing the Toffee Business*
*On further exploration, it was an Eye opener with hard to believe details, as to how a huge business was built on "chutta nahi hai"* went Downhill, as *UPI* arrived.
*In the earlier years, almost all big Toffee players, including Mondelez, Mars, Nestle, Perfetti, Parle & ITC reported staggering growth year after year*
*But as UPI arrived, most of these Brands have reported a steep decline in sales of Toffees*.
*Hershey’s, one of world’s biggest Toffee makers said India is one of the worst-hit markets in the post COVID Era hitting their expansion plans*
So what really changed ?
*Before UPI, shopkeepers would trade Toffees for small change, stating shortage of Coins*
*These small amounts of change over weeks, would amount to becoming vast sums of Money, which were never returned to customers at all, because Toffees were given to customers, in lieu of small change.*
*With UPI, all of this stopped*
*People paid the Exact Amount using UPI, with no scope for exchanging small change, ultimately eating up the daily sales of Toffees*
*This also created a push towards Digital Payments and Toffee sales went down drastically*
*No Toffee company would have ever imagined that Financial products becoming their Competitors*
*Toffees were Coin substitutes and UPI replaced this requirement and drastically changed Customer Behavior*
*In this modern Era, Products which aren’t really a direct Competition, can potentially replace a Product* !!”
A lesson-
*Technology can impact any Business*
Thank you Mr. Harshad Shah for posting this note today.
Eat healthy. Stay Healthy.