Table 23.1.

Implications of COVID-19 for stakeholders along the food supply chain in India.

Food chain	Organizations	Positive impact	Negative impacts	Remedial measures taken	Challenges/comments
Input industries (seeds and Fertilizers)	PI Industries Limited, India Integrated in 1946, PI industries Ltd. contributes to the supply chain of Agchem starting from R&D to production, and solutions. It collaborates with innovators worldwide to produce novel products and crop safety technologies, with operations in India, China, Japan, and Germany.	-Q2 Exports increase ∼25% YoY with proactive raw material inventory management and precise capacity planning, scaling up exports. -Domestic revenues increased by 33%. -Noncurrent other assets were higher due to long term deposits of Rs. 191 crores. -Increased inventory levels in line with expected growth and to ensure continuity of operations amid COVID-19 uncertainties. -Net sales to fixed assets improved to 2.06 versus 1.98 (in Rs. Crores) previous year (PI Industries Avanti Feeds Limited, 2020). -No change in future demand forecasts, order book remained robust @ ∼US$ 1.5 Bn.		Two products launched—Londax power (insecticide) and Shield (fungicide). 18 new patent applications filed during H1′FY21 including intermediaries of COVID-19.	COVID-19 disruption to operations and movement of goods impacted in a limited manner with all manufacturing facilities operational and capacity utilization building back to pre-COVID levels.
Input supplier (agri-inputs such as seeds, pesticides, fertilizers)	Bharat Group Bharat Group was established four decades ago with its three constituent companies, viz. Bharat Rasayan Ltd., Bharat Insecticides Ltd., and BR Agrotech Ltd. The group has established a strong presence in domestic and international markets and has come a long way to be a US$ 167 million enterprise.	Bharat Group products are available to the farming community at their doorsteps through a network of 26 warehouses, 5500 distributors and a large number, of retailers. Bharat Rasayan Ltd. had a turnover of 1231.87 crores rupees, an increase of about 23.84% over previous year (Bharat Rasayan Limited, 2020).	Though company did not face much difficulty in its usual business, the local disruptions in supply of agri-inputs have occurred at some regions because of transport difficulties.	Good performance of the company is due to the fact that the agri-inputs (seeds and fertilizers and pesticides) were supplied by the company in time before travel restrictions were put in place. Because of relaxation of COVID restrictions by Government, the company did not face much difficulty in its usual business.
Input supplier (agri-inputs: fertilizers)	Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) Limited A leading fertilizers and chemicals manufacturing company with about 75% of its equity held by the government of India. Some of its products have very high brand equity in rural India such as “Ujjwala” (Urea) and “Suphala” (complex fertilizers).		The manufacturing unit in Trombay, Maharashtra, suspended operations but has recovered well post April 2020 (Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited, 2020).	-RCF faced multiple hurdles in importing methanol for its internal consumption and for trading purposes. It has started producing methanol post-COVID. -RCF ensured continuous supply of fertilizers to farm boundaries with support from the agriculture department of Maharashtra.	-Logistics hurdles in the initial phase of COVID-19. -Delay in installation and commissioning of the repaired gas generators. -The company had very positive liquidity position with sufficient credit lines available. However, owing to rationalization in government expenditure on account of COVID-19, there have been delays in settlement of subsidy by the government of India.
Input supplier (prawn and fish feeds)	Avanti Feeds Limited A leading manufacturer of prawn and fish feeds, processes and exports shrimp from India. It has a joint venture with Thai Union frozen products PCL., the world's largest seafood processors and leading manufacturer of prawn and fish feeds in Thailand with integrated facilities from hatchery, shrimp, and fish processing, and exports.	Q2FY21 reported consolidated revenues of Rs. 11,316.2 million, a growth of 6.3% YoY.	The stock price performance declined in March 2020 and bounced back positively since November 2020.		The demand for shrimp has dropped globally by about 30–35% as an immediate reaction of COVID-19 due to closure of restaurants, malls, and public eating places (Avanti Feeds Limited, 2020).
Input supplier (poultry products)	Suresh Bhatlekar Poultry Farm Located in Belgavi, Karnataka, India consists of total 35 poultry farms, sells meat, egg, chicken to retailers and meat processors.	In the pre-COVID era, the overall domestic poultry industry witnessed a healthy 13% revenue growth in the financial year 2019.	As a result of the rumors surrounding the spread of coronavirus through animals and chicken, the lockdown turned out to be a double whammy for poultry players. Because of less demand, chicken was sold by the farm at Rs 60–150 per kg in retail compared with Rs 180–200 during pre-COVID period (Singh, 2020).	The farm generated awareness on the government circular on rumor that helped the consumers to regain the confidence and started consuming the poultry products as usual.
Producer/processor	Nestle India One of the world's largest food processing companies with 435 production factories operating in 35 countries, more than 15,000 food products are sold across 189 countries.	Demand for food and drinks consumed at home remained strong during lockdowns, while sales of products consumed outside home and on the go—about 15% of Nestle's sales—fell by 26.4% in the third quarter of 2020 (Reuters, 2020a).	Due to COVID-19, nestle shares went down by 0.2% in the food sector index. The result was not good for the company during the financial year 2020.	The work-from-home policy adopted by nestle India throughout the pandemic has pushed the food sector to adopt a decentralized approach to its business. Unlike earlier, when bulk of the decision-making about its marketing and sales strategies, distribution, or manufacturing happened at its headquarters in Gurgaon, the company decentralized a lot of its decision-making to the factories and local sales areas.
Farmer/producer/processor	All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association Traditional meat drying, preparation of natural sausage casings from intestines of slaughter animals, the comprehensive listing and description of nonmeat ingredients, etc., are the major activity of meat processing plant.	Due to COVID-19, some processing plants were working with less labor but could meet the demand. According to the company and trade bodies, buffalo meat exports rose 15% in August YoY basis and were expected to reach pre-COVID levels in the October–December quarter. Exporters indicated demand from Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia had boosted sales and the trend would continue.	The COVID pandemic forced meat processing factories in India to shut down from the last week of March 2020 until the end of April. Disruption in the delivery and supply chains hit the industry. Various meat processing plants had shut down and have been forced to operate at reduced capacity. Low demand from meat processors has left producers with unsold mature animals. In the first quarter of 2020–21, buffalo meat exports fell 52% on YoY basis. Total meat exports from India in 2019–20 fell from 9.93% to 1.15 million tonnes, valued at Rs 22,668 crore (The Economic Times, 2020a).	The association reduced the workforce during the pandemic and looked for better time for revival of demand. After revival of demand during last quarter of 2020, the association could bring back the business to the pre-COVID level.	Resumption of international travel by tourists and business will give a boost to the overall demand. If passenger flights resume, then it will take about a quarter to get exports to the normal levels.
Producer/processor	Britannia Industries Being a leading player in FMCG sector, the company produces food bakery products, gourmet foods, dairy products, etc., for majority of Indian consumers. Britannia, which had a revenue of Rs 10,482.45 crore in FY 2018–19, operates 15 manufacturing units in India, which are widely spread in states including Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Odisha, and Maharashtra.	Britannia industries witnessed double-digit growth during the pandemic-induced lockdown. The revenue rose by nearly one-third in the April–June quarter of 2020 with its sales and profit after tax (PAT) growth estimated around 22% and 51%, respectively.	Britannia reduced its utilization to 65% of its capacity and focused on optimizing limited manpower (The Economic Times, 2020b).	In a bid to scale up production quickly, the company is focusing on stock availability rather than consumer demand with staple stock keeping units (SKUs) being preferred rather than those SKUs which demand labor intensity in order to optimize limited available manpower.

Compilation by authors from PI industries limited. (2020). Press Release. Retrieved from https://www.piindustries.com/Media/Documents/Press Release_Sept_2020.pdf.; Avanti Feeds Limited. (2020). Q2FY21 result presentation November 2020, (103). Retrieved from https://www.avantifeeds.com/QuarterlyResults/AFL_Investor_concall_intimation_30-09-2020.pdf; Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited. (2020). Disclosure of Covid-19 pandemic impact on the Company's operations, (July), 2020–2022. Retrieved from https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachHis/d2910a5a-1393-4b3a-b0e4-bdce48e10921.pdf; The Economic Times. (2020a). Coronavirus outbreak cuts down demand for buffalo meat by half. Retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/coronavirus-outbreak-cuts-down-demand-for-buffalo-meat-by-half/articleshow/74504051.cms; The Economic Times. (2020b). Lockdown: Britannia utilising 65% of its capacity, focus on optimising limited manpower. Retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/food/lockdown-britannia-utilising-65-of-its-capacity-focus-on-optimising-limited-manpower/articleshow/75176980.cms?from=mdr; Singh, A. (2020). Covid-19 rumours, fake news slaughter poultry industry; Rs. 22,500 crore lost; 5 crore jobs at stake. Retrieved from https://smefutures.com/covid-19-rumours-fake-news-slaughter-poultry-industry-rs-22500-crore-lost-5-crore-jobs-at-stake/; OECD. (2020). Food supply chains and COVID-19: Impacts and policy lessons. Retrieved from https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=134_134305-ybqvdf0kg9&title=Food-Supply-Chains-and-COVID-19-Impacts-and-policy-lessons; Reuters. (2020a). Nestle shrugs off COVID-19 impact thanks to pet food and health nutrition. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/nestle-results-idUSKBN2760KS; Reuters. (2020b). Thai rice exporters cut 2020 forecast to 6.5 million T, lowest in 20 years. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-rice/thai-rice-exporters-cut-2020-forecast-to-6-5-million-t-lowest-in-20-years-idUSKCN24N0BD.