About a couple of years ago, Isha Ambani was pushing for spinning off the FMCG business from Reliance Retail. The retailer had been producing private label products for its supermarket stores, and Isha wanted to scale up the company’s product manufacturing capabilities and launch new brands. The management agreed, and in November 2022, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd. was born.
The newly launched FMCG arm of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (RRVL) immediately got on with business with the launch of products in categories such as home essentials and home care, food and beverages, confectionery and personal grooming. It also re-launched the iconic Campa Cola brand, after acquiring it from Pure Drinks Group for ₹22 crore. Other brands in the company’s portfolio include Lotus Chocolate (acquired for ₹74 crore), along with sub-brands Chuckles, On & On, Milky Punch and Tango, and beverage brand Sosyo.
“Isha is passionate about building assets. She has been involved in investment and strategic decisions of RRVL, which has helped in accelerating business execution,” says an insider. Isha was named as the director of the newly formed Jio Financial Services recently, besides her role as the director of the retail business since 2014. In FY23, the company posted a net profit of ₹9,181 crore on a revenue of ₹2,60,364 crore. With the addition of 555 new stores in Q1FY24, it now has 18,446 stores. Isha, who graduated in business administration from Stanford Business School in 2018, has been instrumental in the transformation of RRVL into an omnichannel retailer through the launch of e-commerce platform JioMart in 2019. In 2020, she steered the $6.4-billion fundraising of the retail chain from global investors. She had a hand in the acquisition of British toys retailer Hamleys, Urban Ladder, Netmeds, Just Dial, and the recently concluded Metro Cash and Carry India. — Nevin John