Britannia’s Price Hike & Licious’ Meat Fight 🍪🥩

Good morning, and welcome to another lazy-yet-informative Sunday edition of Masala Chai! 🌞☕ Today, we have a special Big Brew you don’t want to miss—Licious vs. Zepto’s Relish! 🍗🔥 Is quick commerce cooking Licious’ goose? We break it all down in the battle for India’s meat market.

But that’s not all! This week, we’re watching RBI’s tax cut gamble, Religare’s ongoing drama, Britannia’s biscuit price hikes, and a crypto giant making moves in India. Let’s dive in! ⬇️

🥤 Chai Shots

• ☠️📉 Religare Drama Continues – SC refuses to allow Burman family to close their open offer for Religare as investor Danny Gaekwad eyes a competing bid.

• 🚪💻 Infosys Ousts 350 Freshers – Failing internal evaluations in Java and DBMS leads to mass terminations at Mysuru campus. IT union NITES is calling foul!

• 📜🚔 Insurance Mis-Selling Crackdown Incoming – RBI is stepping in to tackle forced and misleading insurance sales, with new norms on the way.

• 🍪💰 Britannia Hikes Prices Again – 4.5% price increase incoming! Britannia raised rates by 2% in Q3, adding ₹100 Cr to revenue, and plans more hikes as inflation bites. Vice Chairman Varun Berry warns that palm oil, cocoa, and food prices aren’t cooling off—so expect even pricier biscuits soon!

📉 Market Masala

• 📉📈 Markets Wobble, But Hold Ground – Sensex & Nifty started strong but lost steam midweek, ending slightly higher. Nifty Bank outperformed, while Healthcare stocks soared & FMCG tumbled. FPIs kept selling ($841M outflow), and the Nifty struggled to stay over 24,000 hinting at a possible downtrend. Buckle up for a volatile ride! 🚀📊

• 🍼🏬 FirstCry’s Strategic Shift – The babycare giant shuts 38 stores but invests ₹300 Cr in its subsidiary to optimize footprint & fuel future growth. Smart pruning or cause for concern? 🤔

• 💸📉 Modi’s Big Tax & Rate Cut Bet – Will these twin moves jumpstart growth or just be a short-term sugar rush?

  • Despite tax cuts, India’s budget is contractionary—will this really boost spending?

  • Experts say global inflation risks + Fed rate pause could limit further cuts.

  • Investor sentiment was muted—markets fell despite the stimulus.

  • RBI Gov. Sanjay Malhotra remains optimistic but warns that liquidity support is key.

• 🚫🐺 SEBI Bans ‘She Wolf’ Asmita Patel & Seizes ₹53.67 Cr – The self-proclaimed "She Wolf of the stock market" has been barred from trading after SEBI found her peddling unregistered investment advisory services. Lesson? Not all “gurus” are gold. 🧐💸

• 🚀💰 Bybit Registers with FIU-IND, Commits to India – The world’s second-largest crypto exchange is back in the Indian game! Bybit settled regulatory fines, got FIU-IND approval, and is ramping up efforts in Web3 education, blockchain hackathons, and crypto awareness programs. 🔥

📢 What does this mean? While 6.5%-7% growth is the target, some economists say structural reforms—not just tax cuts—are needed for long-term acceleration.

🌍 Global Masala

• 🚀📵 Elon Musk Says 'No' to Buying TikTok – The billionaire confirmed he has no interest in acquiring TikTok’s U.S. operations, despite rumors linking him to the deal. His reason? "I don't even use TikTok." Meanwhile, Trump’s executive order could still push for a forced sale—so the drama isn’t over yet. 🎭📱

• Nissan-Honda Merger Dead? 🚗💔 – Nissan was in talks for a megamerger with Honda, but clashing corporate cultures seem to have ended it. Nissan is now scrambling for a Plan B.

• 🔌⚡ Baltic States Break Free from Russia’s Power Grid – Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia just pulled the plug on Russia’s BRELL power network and are now fully synchronized with Europe.

• 🤖💵 Tech Giants Set to Drop $320 Billion on AI in 2025 – Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft are going all-in on AI, boosting last year’s $230B spending to $320B this year. AI chips, data centers, and infrastructure are the big bets—but with China’s DeepSeek disrupting the game, will all this spending pay off? 🔥🔍

• ✈️📉 Boeing’s Layoffs & Space Shakeup – The aerospace giant cuts 400 jobs in its NASA Artemis program while forecasting huge aircraft demand in India (2,800+ planes over 20 years).

🍗 The Big Brew: Licious vs. Zepto’s Relish – Who’s Winning the Meat War?

For years, Licious was the undisputed king of fresh meat 🏆🥩, but now quick-commerce private labels are shaking things up! Enter Zepto’s Relish, growing at lightning speed 🚀.

🥊 The Challenger: Relish by Zepto

📊 Reported Monthly Sales: ₹12-15 Cr (April-Sept 2024)
📈 Estimated Annual Revenue Run Rate: ₹144-180 Cr
📢 Zepto claims its meat vertical is touching ₹500 Cr—though that remains unverified.

🥩 The Veteran: Licious

💸 Revenue Dip: ₹786 Cr (FY23) ➡️ ₹685 Cr (FY24, -8%)
📉 Why the Drop? Shuttered Swiggy Meatstore, Dunzo & cut modern trade partnerships.
💰 Losses Slashed: ₹524 Cr ➡️ ₹294 Cr (-44%).
⚡ Still serves 1.2M customers monthly & aims for positive EBITDA in FY25

💥 Why is Relish a Big Deal?

🏎️ Speed Wins – Relish delivers in 10 mins; Licious still takes 2 hours (though it's testing 30-min deliveries in Gurugram).
💰 Cheaper Prices – Base price is the same, but Relish gives 15-19% discounts vs. Licious’ 8%.
🥚 Convenience is King – Get chicken + masalas + veggies + eggs in one quick order—no waiting, no planning!

🔥 Licious’ Counterattack

⚡ Partnering with Blinkit, Zepto & Instamart – But only for select SKUs.
🏪 Going Offline – Acquired My Chicken and More, now at 26 physical stores.
🥩 Keeping Premium Cuts Exclusive – Because quick-commerce isn’t stealing steaks & seafood… yet.

📢 What’s Next?

Licious isn’t out of the game, but quick commerce is eating into its biggest revenue generator—chicken! 🐔🔥. If Licious doesn’t double down on speed, pricing, and exclusivity, it risks losing everyday meat buyers to faster, cheaper private labels. Time to sharpen the knives, Licious! 🔪💨

🚀 Startup Scoop – Who’s Making Moves?

• Dhan on Track for Unicorn Status 🦄💰 – Stock trading platform Dhan is in talks for a $100-150M funding round to rival Groww & Zerodha.

• Captain Fresh’s Pre-IPO War Chest 🦐📈 – The seafood giant raised ₹250 Cr as it preps for a stock market debut.

• Cremeitalia’s ₹18 Cr Funding Round 🧀💸 – The dairy startup is scaling its D2C cheese biz with a 5X growth plan in the next 18-24 months.

🔥 What’s Brewing Next?

• Aero India 2025 Kicks Off ✈️🚀 – Airbus & Boeing are betting big on India’s aviation boom. India is now the world’s 3rd-largest air market, and both manufacturers are hunting for deals.

🤔 Chai Break Trivia

Did you know? 🏦💰 The first-ever ATM in India was installed in 1987 by HSBC in Mumbai!

Back then, withdrawing cash from a machine was considered futuristic—now, we’re all just waiting for UPI ATMs. 😆📲

🍵 Wrapping Up: Sunday Edition

And just like that, you’re caught up on the biggest biz & startup stories of the week—before your second cup of chai. ☕💡

So go ahead, enjoy your Sunday, flex your market knowledge at brunch, and if someone asks where you got your insights from—tell them Masala Chai’s got you covered! 😎🔥

See you tomorrow! 👋🚀