Brands
Food for thought pays off: Swiggy crowns IIM Lucknow at the student challenge
Bengaluru: Proof that good ideas, like good food, travel fast. Swiggy has announced the winners of the first edition of its Food For Thought Challenge, a nationwide case study competition that invited students to reimagine how India’s leading food delivery platform can deepen its bond with campus life.
IIM Lucknow emerged as the winner, impressing the jury with ideas to create more meaningful student engagement across food delivery and dining out. The team walked away with pre-placement interviews at Swiggy and a cash prize of ₹1.5 lakh. IIM Indore was named first runner-up and received ₹50,000. Teams from IIM Bengaluru and MICA Ahmedabad were among the other finalists.
Launched in September 2025, the Food For Thought Challenge drew strong interest nationwide, with more than 2,600 submissions from over 600 colleges. Over 30 per cent of entries came from premier institutions, including the IIMs, IITs and NITs, underscoring Swiggy’s growing resonance with India’s student community.
The finale, held in Bengaluru, was chaired by Swiggy Food Marketplace CEO Rohit Kapoor. Submissions were evaluated through a rigorous, multi-stage process based on innovation, growth impact, feasibility, and cost-effectiveness. From thousands of ideas, eight teams advanced to the semi-finals before four made it to the grand finale.
Swiggy Vice President for Food Strategy, Customer Experience, and New Initiatives, Deepak Maloo, said the initiative was designed to tap into students’ instinctive creativity. “College students are more than just customers; they are catalysts for innovation. The ideas we saw combined data-driven thinking with disruptive imagination, and many of them have the potential to shape how we enhance customer experience going forward,” he said.
Swiggy plans to make Food For Thought an annual platform, strengthening its engagement with campuses and nurturing a pipeline of young talent keen to influence the future of food tech and logistics. The initiative complements Swiggy’s broader student-focused efforts, including its Student Rewards Programme and Campus Streaks, which currently reach over seven lakh students across more than 3,600 campuses.
As the company continues to serve millions every day, Swiggy’s message to students is clear: the next big idea could be just one smart pitch away.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
