Brands
GD Foods to expand its presence in the Eastern markets
KOLKATA: The fast-moving consumer goods (FMGC) company, GD Foods Manufacturing (India) that has two brands – Tops and Royal Taste – under it, plans to expand in the eastern region.
In the present fiscal (2013-14), the company has earmarked four per cent of the turnover on the marketing spend that would include on-air and on-ground activities. However, in the next fiscal the spends would increase marginally, going up to five per cent.
The company wants to expand its presence further in the eastern region by increasing the spends as well as by entering with the Royal Taste products beginning with Kolkata market in the next five-six months.
The company has no plans to set up its manufacturing base in the eastern region but in order to capture the markets of Bihar, Odisha, Jaharkhand, it is looking at the best distribution possibilities.
In the current fiscal, the company spent around Rs 8 crore on marketing and advertising initiative.
Also, GD Foods which witnessed a turnover of Rs 153 crore in the last fiscal (2012-13), is confident to cross sales of Rs 200 crore in the current fiscal 2013-14. “Our turnover is likely to be higher than Rs 200 crore in FY14,” said GD Foods VP, Marketing Monika Solanki.
Before foraying in the Kolkata market, the company is looking at hitting 360 degree marketing campaigns including outdoor media, regional television and newspapers papers. “Our own team is working on below-the-line activities that also include on-shop activities,” she added.
The flagship company of the group – Tops – with key consumer products categories like jam, tomato ketchup, pickles, instant mixes, custard powder, culinary sauces, vermicelli, jelly among others has crossed 167 stock keeping units. “Tops pickles and culinary sauces are the main categories of products that largely drive GD Foods,” said Solanki.
A media and brand expert from the eastern region says that because of Tops’ popularity, the company will have to be really innovative to make a mark with Royal Taste. “If the company is looking to enter the eastern region with ‘Royal Taste’, it has to do innovative campaigns to win over the existing national and regional players in Kolkata and eastern region,” said the expert.
Brands
Boeing appoints Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering function
Seasoned finance leader to steer budgets and strategy across global centres
BENGALURU: Boeing’s finance cockpit has a new pilot, and he is no stranger to turbulence or transformation. Boeing has appointed Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering, placing him at the centre of financial strategy for its worldwide engineering and technology operations.
Based in Bengaluru, Barun steps into a role that is as expansive as it is critical. He will serve as the primary finance lead for Boeing’s Engineering and Technology Centers globally, working closely with executive leadership to shape financial decisions, manage complex budgets, and design scalable finance processes that support the company’s growing engineering footprint.
In a note announcing his move Barun said, “I’m excited to share that I’ve joined Boeing Global Engineering. This opportunity is incredibly meaningful to me not just from a professional standpoint, but also for what Boeing represents globally.” He added that he looks forward to contributing to an organisation that continues to shape the future of aerospace and innovation.
Barun’s mandate spans strategic financial leadership, operational oversight, and stakeholder engagement. From directing large-scale budgets and schedules to influencing long-term organisational goals, the role blends financial discipline with business foresight. He will also lead cross-functional teams and partner with finance colleagues worldwide to support engineering programmes across geographies, including India.
The appointment caps a long stint at Juniper Networks, where Barun spent over a decade, most recently as finance senior manager. There, he led FP&A for global product business units and G&A functions, driving budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning. He also played a key role in enterprise-wide transformation, including spearheading an Oracle to SAP ERP migration and building advanced analytics capabilities using tools such as Tableau and SAP Analytics Cloud.
His earlier career includes finance leadership roles at Sony India Software Centre, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Mphasis, where he focused on financial planning, governance frameworks, and operational efficiency across global delivery centres.
A chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Barun brings nearly two decades of experience across financial planning, digital transformation, and analytics-led decision making.
His appointment comes at a time when global engineering operations are becoming increasingly complex and distributed, requiring sharper financial oversight and agile planning. With Barun at the helm of FP&A for engineering, Boeing appears to be tightening its financial playbook as it looks to scale innovation with discipline.
