“𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲.” 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲.

Did you see the first pitch of Bhola Foods on Shark Tank Nepal?
It was a wonderful pitch by the team. The energy, clarity, and passion were truly impressive. However, while watching, a few questions came to my mind

Bhola Foods is currently working with high food costs (around 54%), thin margins (around 12%), and their core business in corporate meals and catering is not yet fully stabilized. They have not maximized the potential in this segment yet. Their current kitchen which is at 400 can expand its capacity to serve 1,000 to 1,200 meals per day if needed.

𝙄𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮-𝙩𝙤-𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨?

Also, moving into Ready to Eat business is a different ball game and requires a different business model.
Bhola Foods has to handle branding, packaging, FMCG distribution, shelf placement, retail negotiations, or large-scale consumer marketing.

𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕? 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔.

Another key question is about their marketing focus. The company wants to invest heavily (85%) in R&D but seems to be overlooking the need for market research, brand building, and distribution development.

𝑰𝒔 𝑩𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒂 𝑭𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒄 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏?
In FMCG, success comes from distribution, and aggressive marketing, not just from a good product. Without proper marketing, even the best products can fail.
These are just some thoughts to help us all think deeper about the business strategies we see on the show.
A. G. Lafley and Roger Martin, in Playing to Win write: