Brands
Healthy snacking and RP Sanjiv Goneka group’s Shashwat Goenka
MUMBAI: The vice chairman of RP Sanjiv Goenka group Shashwat Goenka has revealed how his company-identified the market potential of makhana (fox nuts) before healthy snacking became mainstream in India.
Speaking at ABP Network’s Ideas of India 2025 summit in Mumbai, Goenka discussed how his company has adapted traditional Indian snacks for health-conscious consumers. “Indians want the punch of flavour in their snacks, but they also want them to be healthy. That’s the balance we aim to perfect,” he said.
Goenka highlighted the company’s innovation in traditional snacks, noting their bhujias contain 45 per cent less saturated fat while maintaining authentic taste. He emphasised that taste remains paramount, stating, “If a product is not enjoyable, consumers will not come back to it.”
Addressing the evolution of consumer behaviour, Goenka pointed to the rise of quick commerce and increased consumer willingness to experiment with new products. He stressed the importance of maintaining consistent supply chains to meet this growing demand.
When discussing industry competition, Goenka cited rapid technological adaptation as crucial for success. He named Mukesh Ambani and Elon Musk as business leaders he admires for their vision.
The two-day summit, themed ‘Humanity’s Next Frontier’, brings together global thought leaders to discuss India’s role in addressing challenges from climate change to artificial intelligence.
Brands
Godrej clarifies ‘GI’ identifier after logo similarity debate
Says GI is not a logo, will not replace Godrej signature across products.
MUMBAI: In a branding storm where shapes did the talking, Godrej is now spelling things out. Godrej Industries Group (GIG) has issued a clarification on its newly introduced ‘GI’ identifier, addressing questions around its purpose and design following a wave of online criticism. At the centre of the debate were two concerns: whether the new mark replaces the long-standing Godrej logo, and whether its geometric design mirrors other corporate identities.
The company has drawn a clear line. The Godrej signature logo, it said, remains unchanged and continues to be the sole logo across all consumer-facing products and services. The ‘GI’ mark, by contrast, is not a logo but a corporate group identifier intended for use alongside the Godrej signature or company name, and aimed at stakeholders such as investors, media and talent rather than consumers.
The need for such a distinction stems from the 2024 restructuring of the broader Godrej Group into two separate business entities. With both continuing to operate under the same Godrej name and signature, the identifier is positioned as a way to differentiate the Godrej Industries Group at a corporate level.
The rollout, however, triggered a broader conversation on design originality. Critics pointed to similarities between the GI mark’s geometric composition and logos used by companies globally, raising questions about distinctiveness.
Responding to this, GIG said its intellectual property and legal review found that such overlaps are common in minimalist, geometry-led design systems. Basic forms such as circles and rectangles appear across dozens of brand identities worldwide, the company noted.
It added that the identifier emerged from an extensive design process and was chosen for its simplicity, allowing it to sit alongside the Godrej signature without competing visually. While acknowledging that elemental shapes may appear less distinctive in isolation, the group emphasised that the mark is part of a broader identity system that includes a custom typeface, sonic branding and other proprietary elements.
Following legal and ethical assessments, the company said it found no impediment to using the identifier, reiterating that the GI mark is a corporate tool not a consumer-facing symbol.
In short, the logo isn’t changing but the conversation around it certainly has.
