Daybreak

SBI Cards is facing a tumultuous leadership landscape, with new CEO Salila Pande stepping into a challenging environment. Frequent CEO changes have led to employee dissatisfaction and instability. The company struggles with declining market performance, despite the booming credit card sector. Shifting workplace cultures and increased governance from the State Bank of India complicate matters further. The stability of the workforce hangs in the balance as the company navigates these deep-rooted issues.

The podcast dives into the intense rivalry among India's top UPI apps, highlighting the past conflicts and the current calm. It questions why many users stick to their favorite app despite cash-back incentives. The discussion reveals a lack of brand loyalty among users and explores new competitors like Navi and SuperMoney trying to carve out a niche. Privacy concerns and changing consumer habits further complicate the landscape, making it a fascinating battleground in the digital payments arena.

Dive into the spicy rivalry between Haldiram's and Bikaji, as Haldiram’s recent stake sale to Temasek shakes up the snack industry. Explore the backlash against Urban Company’s new gig service, raising issues about worker exploitation in the gig economy. Discover insights on the evolving tech export scene from India and the challenges faced by traditional snack brands adapting to health trends. Plus, learn about the implications of a potential extended downturn in stock markets, discussed in an upcoming live event.

Pharma is slow, complicated and tangled in regulatory approvals and compliances. But, consumer healthcare is fast moving, has far fewer rules and enjoys better margins. Under the umbrella of consumer healthcare you will find a plethora of categories and products – all of which claim to improve some aspect of health or well being. Think supplements, or over the counter medications like Crocin or Sanofi’s own Allegra, even things like protein bars. These are products that you can toss into your shopping cart and purchase without the hassle of a prescription. Last year, Sanofi India decided to demerge its consumer arm and list it as a separate entity – Sanofi Consumer Healthcare. Sanofi even gave it a shiny new label: FMCH, or fast-moving consumer healthcare. And this approach seems to be working out well for the French company. Sanofi Consumer Healthcare has been picking up some of the slack. By Q1 of 2024, it was already contributing 30 per cent of Sanofi SA’s total sales and -40 per cent of its operating profit. But Sanofi didn’t invent this move. Zydus Lifesciences figured it out back in 2008 when it created Zydus Wellness, the entity behind Sugarfree and Glucon-D. And after that, we saw giants like GSK and Johnson & Johnson follow suit. But here’s the thing about Sanofi. Unlike Zydus, which clearly separates its pharma and consumer-health businesses, Sanofi blurs the line. A lot of its pharmaceutical products are being recategorized and sold as consumer care. Tune in.Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.The Ken is hosting its first live subscriber event! Join two long-term and contrarian CEOs, Nithin Kamath of Zerodha and Deepak Shenoy of Capitalmind, as they discuss the mental models, decision making frameworks, and potential outcomes related to a very real possibility: an extended stock market winter that lasts 24 months or more. Click here to buy your tickets. 

About three years ago, the government decided that it wanted India to become a global powerhouse in cell manufacturing. So it went ahead and dangled a very juicy carrot for companies to produce batteries locally. It promised over Rs 18,000 crore in subsidies for anybody who would help it make its battery dreams come true by the end of this decade. Cut to now, three years later, and those dreams are very quickly losing charge. You see, by now the government should have technically already disbursed Rs 2,700 crore to beneficiaries. But in reality, not even 1 per cent of that has reached any of them. Merely Rs 24 crore has been spent by the government this far, and most of it has gone towards paperwork, site visits and tender process. That's it. What's going on? Tune in. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.The Ken is hosting its first live subscriber event! Join two long-term and contrarian CEOs, Nithin Kamath of Zerodha and Deepak Shenoy of Capitalmind, as they discuss the mental models, decision making frameworks, and potential outcomes related to a very real possibility: an extended stock market winter that lasts 24 months or more. Click here to buy your tickets. 

Private schools in India are witnessing a dramatic decline in enrollment, with numbers dropping by over 2.2 million. One budget school in Bangalore, once bustling with 1,500 students, now struggles to fill its classrooms. Factors such as the pandemic and shifts in government policies have contributed to this trend. Meanwhile, government schools are rising in performance, attracting students with innovative strategies. The conversation delves into this shifting educational landscape and poses the pressing question: where have all the children gone?

IV drip therapy has transitioned from a celebrity trend to a luxury wellness solution for the elite. Plush clinics are offering treatments for everything from hangovers to skin rejuvenation, all for a price tag that can reach up to 80,000 Rs per session. The booming interest reflects a desire for quick, customizable health fixes, despite the unregulated nature of these treatments. As demand surges, the debate around safety and efficacy continues, underlining the controversial yet aspirational allure of this wellness craze.

In this episode we fill you in on some of the biggest business and tech stories from The Ken newsroom. We will talk about Reliance and Airtel’s latest deal with Space X’s Starlink Internet; how Dhan, the stock broking underdog, is defying all odds; and finally, we discuss the market for treating farmed animals humanely. Stay tuned Check out the stories and podcasts we mentioned in this episode: Dhan is the stock-broking underdog that Chryscapital and Hornbill are after. But why?How big is the market for treating farmed animals humanely? 

Urban Indians are embracing the gig economy, eagerly delegating chores via apps. While this trend offers convenience, it raises concerns about the exploitation of low-paid workers. Startups are capitalizing on this demand, with significant venture capital flowing into the sector. The alarming statistic reveals that 13% of tech funding supports this growing network of odd jobs. This evolving landscape hints at a future where work revolves around outsourcing tasks we’d rather avoid, sparking debates over job stability and ethical labor practices.

When the Bengaluru-based Cloud kitchen operator Curefoods went ahead and acquired the distribution rights for the American donut and coffee brand Krispy Kreme in December last year, a lot of people were naturally quite surprised. Given the company’s roots in the fitness startup Cult fit, you would assume that it would be in Curefood’s best interest to promote all things “healthy”. Even its flagship brand up until now, Eatfit, is popular on delivery platforms for its healthy, clean food options. But turns out, that’s not the path this cloud kitchen operator wants to walk down anymore. It is now dead set on expanding its menu beyond just salads. And the only way to do that is by giving people what they really want — junk food. Tune in.Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.The Ken is hosting its first live subscriber event! Join two long-term and contrarian CEOs, Nithin Kamath of Zerodha and Deepak Shenoy of Capitalmind, as they discuss the mental models, decision making frameworks, and potential outcomes related to a very real possibility: an extended stock market winter that lasts 24 months or more. Click here to buy your tickets.