26 Years of
Hindustaniyat. Bharatiyata. Indianness.
All different names for who we are, rooted in the soil of this glorious land, inspired by it, and created in its fragrance.
We are HCCB, and Hindustaanium is our mettle.
26 years ago, we started out as a simple FMCG company in India, with the aim of establishing ourselves in the local markets. As we expanded our manufacturing capacity, product lines and network of beverage distributors, we grew into something more. With our roots set strong today, we have taken over the beverage industry in India. And not just in our capacity as a manufacturing company, from our grassroots community initiatives to new launches, from ushering in new technology to adding value to everything we touch, we are the quintessential Indian and we are on our way to becoming the top FMCG company in India.
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The ancient Indian art form of pulli kōlam, symbolises infinite karmic cycles. It is a geometric pattern drawn at dawn from rice flour with the liberal use of the infinity symbols. The pulli kōlam translates itself into food for bugs, ants, birds, and insects – a powerful motif of generosity. It is a powerful vehicle for women’s self-expression - a central metaphor and symbol for creativity, and it evokes an entire way of being in the world; by articulating desires, concerns, sensibilities and ultimately affirming the power of women to create a healthy, happy society. HCCB derives its identity from this art form and the symbol of infinity by reminding us to stay true to our archetype – caring, sharing, exploring,improving.
The Rubik’s cube, an enduring symbol of diversity and possibilities- 43 quintillion permutations, to be precise. HCCB and artist Prithveesh Bhat used the Rubik’s cube to create life-size wall art that earned India an Asia Book of Records entry. We took 7,400 mini Rubik’s cubes and combined mathematics with aesthetics to create a mosaic art that represents inclusivity in diversity. The art form depicts the company’s wide portfolio of more than 60 products. This local art by a local artist, rooted in India’s persona, is now a defining image, guiding our mission to create a microcosm of India within HCCB.
Instead of putting more trucks on the road, shouldn't we be putting more load on the trucks? More load, for more road; lesser congestion, lesser pollution. For years the industry has been working on upsizing trucks as double-deckers. But no prototype could conform to the total height of trailers allowed by Govt. And then, amidst the din and chaos of the pandemic, a mere 72 centimetres made all the difference. The rules were relaxed by just that much. Enough for some of our best designers and engineers to weave their magic. With double-deckers came a whopping 54% increase in load capacity and a much lower carbon footprint. Our fleet now boasts of a double-decker between Siliguri (West Bengal) and Purnia (Bihar).
Over the last 25 years, we realised that HCCB is seen as a unique employer. For those in and around our factories, we’re the most obvious place to find work. For others, we’re the place to learn and train for work. But for many more, we were expected to take a mentorship role. Help them train so they can land the jobs they want. This expectation made HCCB and NIITFoundation conceptualise the Career Development Centers a decade ago. These Centers train educated, unemployed individuals in various courses from digital literacy to the nuances of retailing. Experts teach the module and transfer on-job skills. After 25,000 trained individuals, we’re now working on taking Career Development Centers to more cities and people.
India’s first hi-rise, vertical factory for beverages is built in one of the smallest tracts of land, and will be predominantly run by women. Apart from being located in a high seismic zone, it is also amongst HCCB’s largest factories. While gravity is driving the process flow, extra energy is required to transport the input material to the top of the building, and a budget needs to be accounted for. All of these pose challenges for the project and engineering teams. We got a retired senior professor from the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) to do a detailed analysis and re-specify the building design. India’s first hi-rise beverage factory is now digital, automatic and run entirely by women!
Unsafe roads, driver fatigue, lack of adherence to traffic rules, negligence, and mechanical failures cause many road accidents in India. Armed with this data, the HCCB team established multiple Driver Management Centres (DMCs) to address training and technology issues that could be influenced immediately. Variables like time and distance covered, break durations and health indices of drivers, while the GPS in the trucks provided actionable insights on driver behaviour. Simple tests helped ascertain fatigue and stress, while beds, canteens, restrooms, behaviour change sessions, extensive counselling and classroom training addressed behavioural challenges. Reward, recognition, data-based error elimination provided positive reinforcements. The results corroborate that our efforts are in the right direction, causing fellow corporates to now replicate HCCB’s DMCs, for the greater good.
Avinash, a Goblej village resident (Ahmedabad) adopted the SRI technology to increase the yield of his rice farm. One of the early adopters of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) his yield has doubled since 2016, quadrupling his income. SRI is a system of cultivation that dates back to the 1980s in Madagascar. HCCB has enabled the adoption of this technique in Gujarat, with the Development Support Centre funding early adopters, causing 200 farmer families to adopt the technology to date. Where conventional practices submerge the crop, SRI uses moistness during the vegetative phase to increase oxygen. SRI farmers transplant 8 to 12-day old seedlings and use only a single seedling per hill, causing the yield to double and command a premium price.
Water ATMs now dot several villages around our factories. Each time a five-rupee coin goes into the water ATM, residents can access 20 litres of Reverse Osmosis (RO) water. This has solved frequent disease outbreaks, reduced the outgo on medical costs and cut down on long hours spent fetching water. Women can now devote this extra time to self-help groups to earn a livelihood. The community has warmed to the idea, every five rupees deposited at the ATM is their contribution to the monthly pool used to service, maintain, and repair the machine. Established routines ensure that the water collection points are clean, and dry, with no machine breakdowns. The word has spread and now there are more champions for the cause.
It’s called the ASSP (Affordable Small Sparkling Package), and at 10 grams, it is possibly the world’s lightest PET bottle, catering to the consumers’ need for a portable, resealable, lightweight, and shatter-resistant package. It can travel long-distance, accept extreme climates and delivers the business need to economise environmental resources and lower carbon footprint. A tribute to HCCB’s ingenuity which came about in 2016, after two years of R&D. Proprietary computer simulation methods have designed the use of one-third less plastic that does not compromise recyclability. An incredibly thin barrier layer added to the bottle walls preserves carbon dioxide and provides durability. A rapid transition from unique to ubiquitous, this bottle showcases #Hindustaanium from seed to scale.
Over several years, we have consistently minimised our energy footprint and increased the percentage of green energy used. All credit to the ingenuity of our teams, because when they contemplated agricultural waste, they developed briquettes and commissioned new projects by sourcing wind power over conventional power systems. From engineers installing rooftop power panels and replacing old lighting systems with LED, to making cleaner fuels, and cranking the machines with solar power. From coats of paint that can cool to shed designs and layout plans that allow more sunlight into the factories to installing electric vehicle charging points in parking lots. They have helped HCCB source 50% of its energy from renewable sources in a relatively short period. Long live their curiosity and conviction!
In remembrance and a tribute to the father of the nation, a bunch of colleagues in HCCB teamed up with officers at Karnataka Pollution Control Board and the Karnataka Forest Department. They mobilised others too, and then a motley group of 350 spread through a dry patch of land in Madhumalai Gudda, Kollegal, Karnataka. Before the sun established itself on the western horizon, 4,000 saplings of species native to the MM Hills had found their place in the dug ups. The saplings will be taken care of by the forest range officers. There are several thousand more that will get planted because this is #Hindustaanium at work.
An expansion of our factory in Khorda, Bhubaneshwar, needed us to cut 188 trees and plant replacements. Despite permission from the authorities, our teams could not bear to see them being chopped. So they chose a tougher path- relocating the trees to another area within the factory. They identified vacant land, prepared it for plantation by levelling the ground and excavating deep pits to accommodate the roots. Trained gardeners trimmed branches of bigger trees and under the supervision of professionals, JCBs were deployed to uproot and replant the trees. The entire exercise took place during the monsoon so the trees survive. Today the tree count is still more than 13,000, thanks to a very spirited team with large hearts.
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