Brands
Marico expands its breakfast portfolio with Saffola Muesli
Mumbai: Marico, one of India’s leading FMCG companies has announced the launch of Saffola Muesli with Flavour Pops, aiming to leverage the brand’s equity in the adult breakfast segment.
Over the years, Saffola has emerged as one of the leading players with a wide breakfast range, having become #India’s No. 1 Brand in Oats and launching extensions to categories like Peanut Butter, Honey etc. Saffola has continuously innovated to meet the evolving needs of consumers to make convenient nutrition ‘exciting’. Building on its legacy and commitment, the brand peps up the category with crunchy muesli, in three new delicious and flavourful options – Kesar Crunch, Berry Crunch and Choco Crunch.
Saffola launched their range of Muesli, keeping in mind the popular flavours associated with milk, – whether it’s the rich and aromatic kesar, the fruity goodness of berries, or the indulgent and dainty chocolate. These variants are crafted to make breakfast an enjoyable and satisfying experience with a burst of flavour and crunch delivered through the inclusion of a unique flavour pops format. Made with a natural mix of multigrain and millet, the flavour pops make Saffola Muesli irresistibly crunchy till the last bite. Moreover, each flavour is designed to satisfy the palate combined with a blend of 15-in-1 fruits, nuts, seeds, millet & more, that make it a powerhouse of nutrition.
Speaking about the launch of the new products, Marico Ltd. India & foods business chief operating officer Vaibhav Bhanchawat said, “Our foray into the Muesli Category marks a significant milestone in line with our brand proposition of offering consumers “better for you” products with a “taste first” approach. While there is a growing need of products that deliver convenient nutrition, we also understand that consumers equally want their breakfast to be exciting and uplifting as it sets the tone for the rest of the day. We identified the opportunity to bring excitement and familiarity to a new-age category like Muesli, much like the success we have seen in making oats exciting through Saffola Masala Oats. The idea was to deliver consumer delight through our unique flavour pops format that gives a burst of flavour and an irresistibly crunchy experience. We believe these popular flavours launched under Saffola Muesli with Crunch Flavour Pops will help consumers “brighten up their mornings to take on the day.”
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.
