Brands
Godrej Yummiez launches Korean meatballs with chef Anahita Dhondy
MUMBAI: Love is in the air and this time, it’s spiced with gochujang! India’s festive kitchens are getting a Korean twist as Godrej Yummiez, the ready-to-cook frozen foods brand from Godrej Foods Ltd, launches its Korean style chicken meatballs, just in time for the celebrations.
To mark the launch, the brand has rolled out a digital campaign featuring chef Anahita Dhondy, who brings her signature flair to a two-part video series that blends tradition with trending flavours. Shot amid the colours and chaos of Pujo and Dashain festivities, the films spotlight easy, mouth-watering recipes made for modern Indian homes.
In the first episode, chef Anahita whips up a chicken meatball toast a late-night saviour for those 2 am post-pandal cravings. The second film dives into Dashain celebrations, where she serves up chicken meatball skewers with Korean atomic sauce, perfectly marrying spice, tang, and togetherness.
With just five ingredients and minimal prep, the new Korean-style meatballs prove that festive cooking doesn’t need to be complicated to impress. Backed by the India Snacking Report (Sttem 2.0), which found that 71 per cent of Indians prefer frozen snacks during festivities, Yummiez is clearly in step with the nation’s evolving palate.
Each pack delivers 12g of protein per 100g, preserved with the brand’s IQF freezing technology, ensuring freshness, flavour, and convenience in every bite. Priced at Rs 190 for a 250g pack, the range is now available across Kolkata and Northeast India, with festive discounts adding extra cheer.
“India is stepping into its most joyous season, where food and celebration go hand in hand,” said Godrej Foods Ltd head of marketing & innovation Anushree Dewen. “Our Korean style chicken meatballs bring a global twist to Indian festivities: delicious, nutritious, and incredibly easy to make. Through Chef Anahita’s recipes, we’re showing how simple it is to turn festive moments into something special.”
So, whether you’re a midnight snacker or the host with the most, Godrej yummiez korean style chicken meatballs promise to make every celebration more flavourful. Go on, say Saranghae to your new festive favourite.
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.
