MAM
Satish Nair joins Zappfresh as the senior VP of retail
Mumbai: Zappfresh is thrilled to announce the appointment of Satish Nair as the senior vice president of Retail. With a remarkable track record spanning over 25 years in transformative leadership roles, Nair has consistently demonstrated an exceptional ability to spearhead growth, innovation, and strategic brilliance.
In his new capacity, Nair will lead the retail division, developing and executing strategies to enhance customer experience, and propelling sustainable growth initiatives. His visionary leadership is poised to play a decisive role in sculpting Zappfresh’s future. His appointment at Zappfresh comes at a pivotal moment for the company, as it continues to expand its reach to the south and is driven to new growth strategies. ZappFresh’s focus for the next six months will be centered around building traction in the Bangalore market. By expanding into new pin codes and delivering on their promise of value, health, and quality, ZappFresh aims to solidify its position and capture the hearts of consumers in the region. They have recently acquired Sukos Foods-owned Dr. Meat. Mr. Nair’s deep industry knowledge and proven ability to drive business transformation will undoubtedly contribute to Zappfresh’s position as a leader in the market.
On this occasion, Zappfresh founder Deepanshu Manchanda quipped, “We warmly welcome Satish Nair as our Senior Vice President of Retail. His extensive industry experience and visionary leadership perfectly align with Zappfresh’s commitment to providing customers with the freshest, top-quality products. We are confident that his insights and expertise will serve as a cornerstone in our ongoing quest for growth and expansion.”
Nair in his tenure at Mother Dairy saw substantial expansion and modernisation, while his time at Cadbury and PepsiCo Frito-Lay witnessed ground breaking sales & marketing campaigns and product launches.
Reflecting on his new journey, Nair expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “I am deeply honored to join the Zappfresh family, a company that shares my ardor for excellence. I eagerly anticipate collaborating with the immensely talented Zappfresh team and contributing to the company’s continued triumphs. With my experience, I will be able to bring the expertise that will solidify their success to the next level.”
With a successful track record spanning over eight years, ZappFresh turned profitable last year and has achieved several milestones. With a customer base of over 300,000 in the NCR region, the company has solidified its position, built a robust supply chain from scratch, and established a reputable brand known for its commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
