Lockdown 2.0: Parle-G maker bucks trend; plants hum at 60% capacity

The yellow pack with the picture of a cherubic baby sits quietly on supermarket racks. One of India’s best-known comfort foods — Parle-G biscuits — is available in stores despite the nationwide lockdown that has hampered production in overall fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector for a month now.

At nearly 60 per cent capacity utilisation, Parle Products, maker of Parle-G, appears to be bucking this trend by keeping production lines going, encouraging workers to get back to work, talking to district authorities to meet hygiene standards and pushing the distribution wheel in the face of growing number of containment zones and limited movement of trucks.

Mayank Shah, senior category head, Parle Products, admits that the first phase of the lockdown saw the company operate with a few plants and acute labour shortage. Capacity utilisation was down to 20-25 per cent, with distribution patchy and trucks barely plying on the roads.

“The situation has certainly improved in the last two weeks, allowing us to quickly increase the production and improve the capacity utilisation,” he says. “Having said that, we were clear from the very start (of the lockdown) that the emphasis would have to be on the most popular brands. This way we have prioritised labour and production on segments that have mattered the most,” he says.

Optimal utilisation of resources has meant that Parle Products is focused mainly on the value and mid-market biscuit segments during the lockdown. Apart from Parle-G in the value and mid-market segment, the company is focusing on 20-20, Krackjack, Monaco and Marie. Production of premium brands Hide & Seek and Bourbon have begun of late as more plants open up.

Currently, the firm has around 70 per cent of 135 plants operational across the country. While 10 plants are owned by the company, 125 units belong to co-packers. Around 12,000 workers have made it back to work out of 25,000 people involved in manufacturing, including those employed directly by the company and those on the rolls of co-packers, Shah says.

All plants have 40-45 per cent workforce, in keeping with the central government’s guidelines. Most of them put in mainly one shift of eight hours daily. Some plants have two shifts of eight hours each, says Shah, with workers in one shift not repeated in the next to ensure hygiene standards are met.

Strict social distancing standards, including monitoring people entering and exiting plants, thermal screening, hand sanitization and safe distance maintained on factory floors, in changing rooms and canteens, are being maintained.

Workers at some plants have been housed near the factories, while in the case of other units, the company has taken full responsibility of transporting them to and from factories, Shah says.

“This ensures attendance and helps us keep our lines going,” he adds.

On the distribution front, the journey has been slow but steady. From 50-60 trucks that were plying in the first phase of the lockdown, the number has now increased to around 200. As last-mile distribution opens up in rural areas and green zones, Shah says more trucks could be pressed into service in the coming days.