India is a frontier market opportunity. The country is becoming prosperous and more people are getting into the consumer class with increasing discretionary income. There are structural opportunities in the premiumisation and urbanisation trends too, with health, fitness and nutrition taking centre stage in peoples’ lives. These are clear growth opportunities in the mid to long-term, especially with India setting itself the ambitious target of becoming a $7-trillion economy and capturing the slot of the third largest economy by 2030. Over the past few years, we have seen a significant increase in the demand for quality packaged dairy products that has lifted the growth rate of the sector as a whole. Beneficiaries have been frontline players like Heritage that have focused on execution to gain scale and market share. This has been accelerated by innovation across the board that has given us the growth momentum. Given the improving macroeconomic prospects, we have focused on enhancing our fundamentals, be it across our supply and distribution ends, operations, human resources, or in our financial management. We have maintained flexibility and responsiveness, giving our consumers new products as well as venturing into new high-potential markets. We acknowledge the importance of integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into our culture and operations. Our key objectives are to preserve natural resources, empower our farming community who form the backbone of rural India, and encourage practices that are ethical, transparent and help build trust. Dairy farmers are the key support of our company. Their welfare has a direct influence on our performance and achievements. We have prioritised empowering our farmers by implementing grassroots programmes to improve their social and economic welfare. Many thousands of farmers have been with us from day one which is a matter of great pride for us. In closing, I would like to express my gratitude to all our stakeholders who have placed their trust with us. We appreciate your ongoing support in our journey and will continue to focus our efforts on being a sustainable and value-generative dairy enterprise. Thanks, A V Girijakumar Chairperson This past year demonstrated our commitment to achieve the highest standards of quality, as seen by notable accomplishments in expanding our operations and promoting sustainability. STRATEGIC REVIEW STATUTORY REPORT FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 15 HERITAGE FOODS LTD | 32ND ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24
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