Brands
SOFIT unveils Disha Patani as brand ambassador
Mumbai: SOFIT, India’s leading plant-based drink from Hershey India Pvt Ltd., a part of The Hershey Company, has unveiled its new digital film promoting SOFIT Almond drink featuring brand ambassador and fitness icon Disha Patani. The film highlights Disha’s personal fitness mantra and reinforces SOFIT’s proposition that ‘Fit is Fab’. Through Disha’s workout routine, the brand intends to inspire consumers to embrace their own path towards health and wellness and make SOFIT Almond drink their preferred choice in this journey.
The film opens with Disha Patani receiving texts from her massive fanbase, asking for her diet regime, fitness tips, favorite exercises and more. As she gets ready for her workout, her phone buzzes continuously with questions and compliments. Following a diverse range of workouts, Disha heads to her fridge and grabs SOFIT Almond Drink. She is shown relishing it and then reveals that incorporating SOFIT Almond Drink in her daily diet helps her stay fit from the inside and fabulous on the outside. The film concludes with the director calling “cut”, but Disha continues to savour her drink, showcasing her genuine love for SOFIT Almond Drink.
Commenting on the new film, Luigi Mirri, General Manager, Hershey India & APAC stated, “For Hershey India, SOFIT is a brand of strategic importance, representing our commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle. Consumers are prioritizing their health more than ever and the demand for plant-based beverages and their numerous health benefits is on the rise. As the market leader in the dairy-alternative milk category, we are excited to unveil the new film featuring our brand ambassador Disha Patani, further solidifying our leadership and strengthening our market position.”
Speaking about the film, Disha Patani said, “As someone deeply passionate about fitness, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is incredibly important to me. That’s why I am always look on the lookout for products that truly make a difference in my life and fitness journey. SOFIT Almond Drink easily fits into and enhances my wellness routines, whether it’s after workouts or morning runs, or when I simply need something nutritious during a busy schedule.”
SOFIT is a delicious plant-based drink packed with the goodness of plant protein and dietary fiber. It offers two ranges of plant-based drinks including Almond drink and Soya drink, and comes in indulgent and exciting flavors. The almond drink comes in Unsweetened and Chocolate flavor. The soya drink comes in 4 flavors – Chocolate, Vanilla, Naturally Sugar Free and Kesar Pista.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
