MAM
Ipsos onboards Garima Mall, Pooja Doshi as executive directors
Mumbai: Market research company Ipsos India has announced the onboarding of Garima Mall and Pooja Doshi as executive directors, effective immediately. The duo will report to Ipsos India MD – research Vivek Gupta.
Mall moves from Kantar and has earlier worked with Nielsen and GFK Mode. Her professional experience of 16 years has primarily covered different categories in the consumer and shopper domain. At Ipsos, her remit includes servicing market strategy and understanding (MSU) and brand health tracking (BHT) clients in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Doshi was last associated with NielsenIQ, where she served as director-commercial lead. She has largely led innovation research, leveraging consumer insights and analytics, helping clients build their brand portfolios. At Ipsos, her mandate includes servicing key CPG accounts and driving business development.
“Both Mall and Doshi come with rich experience and sectoral expertise. Our endeavour is to provide our clients access to specialists as opposed to generalists, thus further strengthening our servicing capabilities in these focused geographies,” Vivek Gupta said.
“Our client first approach ensures that despite being among the top three market research firms in India and around the world, we provide our clients with a small agency kind of attentiveness and counsel,” said Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar. “Accessibility of senior staff to clients is extremely critical. It also sends a tacit message that your work is our priority too.”
Brands
Kwality Wall’s reports standalone losses following strategic HUL demerger
Ice cream major faces Rs 64 crore Ebitda loss amid commodity inflation and muted Q3 sales
MUMBAI: Kwality Wall’s (India) Limited (KWIL) has released its first set of financial results as a standalone entity, revealing a challenging start to its independent journey. Following its successful demerger from Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on 1st December 2025 and its subsequent listing on 16th February 2026, the company is navigating a transition period marked by structural changes and high input costs.
For the quarter ended 31st December 2025, the company reported revenue of Rs 222 crores. Despite the revenue base, the bottom line was impacted by several factors, resulting in an Ebitda loss of Rs 64.2 crores. When calculated on a Pre-IND AS 116 basis, the Ebitda loss stood at Rs 83.8 crores.
Organic Sales Growth (OSG) declined by 6.5 per cent year-on-year during the quarter. Volume growth, however, saw a marginal increase of 1.2 per cent. The company reported a gross margin of 41.5 per cent. Additionally, exceptional expenses amounting to Rs 94 crores were recorded, primarily linked to non-recurring costs during the transition phase.
Performance across portfolios and channels was mixed. Within the impulse portfolio, brands such as Magnum and Cornetto recorded mid-single digit volume growth, indicating steady demand in on-the-go consumption. However, the in-home portfolio, which includes take-home packs, experienced muted consumption. The company is planning a relaunch of this category with improved offerings ahead of the 2026 season.
Quick commerce (Q-Com) continued to emerge as a strong growth driver, delivering robust double-digit growth during the quarter. Meanwhile, the company also expanded its physical distribution network by increasing the number of company-owned cabinets across markets.
Margin pressure during the quarter was driven by a combination of one-off factors and broader cost inflation. Gross margins were impacted by around 600 basis points due to trade investments made for stock liquidation. Additionally, cocoa price inflation contributed to another 400 basis points of pressure on margins.
Deputy managing director Chitrank Goel attributed the muted performance partly to prolonged monsoons and transitional challenges linked to the GST framework. Operating expenses also increased as the company invested in establishing its standalone supply chain, operational systems and corporate infrastructure following the demerger.
Looking ahead, the management remains focused on a volume-driven growth strategy. To restore profitability, the company has initiated a cost productivity programme aimed at reducing non-consumer-facing costs. It is also working on building regional manufacturing networks to optimise logistics expenses and improve operational efficiency.
The commodity outlook for the near term remains mixed. Dairy prices are expected to remain firm due to tight supply conditions and rising fodder costs. Sugar prices may also move higher following increases in the Minimum Selling Price (MSP). While cocoa prices have moderated recently, currency depreciation has offset some of the potential cost relief for the company.
