# The ₹500 Cr FMCG Playbook: Using the “Be Big, Be Fast, Be Bold” Framework to Scale Little Farms

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-barbershop-with-shantanu-5613376/the-500-cr-fmcg-playbook-using-the-be-big-be-fast-be-bold-framework-to-scale-little-farms.md
Podcast: [The BarberShop with Shantanu](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-barbershop-with-shantanu-5613376)
Published: 2026-04-16T14:39:28+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/thebarbershopwithshantanu/2741080
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/144664/2741080/thebarbershopwithshantanu/2026_04_16_14_39_04_13478cdd-180a-4c64-8fab-5c0742c9d38c.mp3
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Duration seconds: 3989

## Resource

A ₹30 Cr pickle brand built from traditional recipes… now aiming for ₹500 Cr. But can a digital-first FMCG brand scale in India without going offline? In this episode, Niharika Bhargava (CEO, The Little Farm) and Aditya Bhargava (COO, The Little Farm) join Shantanu Deshpande (Founder & CEO, Bombay Shaving Company), along with Arjun Purkayastha (SVP & Managing Director, Greater China and North Asia, Reckitt), for a sharp conversation on building and scaling a modern food brand in India. Little Farm started by reviving family recipes and selling at farmers’ markets, before moving to D2C during COVID. Today, the brand has scaled to ~₹30 Cr ARR, with 70% of its revenue driven by quick commerce, selling over 70,000 jars every month. But growth brings harder questions: What does it really take to scale from ₹30 Cr to ₹200 Cr and eventually ₹500 Cr in a highly competitive, unorganised category? From distribution strategy and channel mix to inventory planning and product expansion, this episode breaks down the real decisions founders face while scaling a consumer brand in India. Problems we solve in this episode: • When is the right time for a young brand to enter offline retail, and does discovery still happen there? • How should founders move from manual inventory planning to a scalable forecasting system while staying cash-efficient? • When should a brand deepen its core category vs expand into new SKUs or adjacent products to drive growth? If you're building a D2C or FMCG brand, this episode offers a practical look at how modern brands are scaling today, and where most founders get it wrong. Navigate your way through these chapters: 00:00 Coming up 01:31 Introduction 02:39 How a Dadi’s Recipe Became Little Farms 05:22 The Journey of Scaling Little Farms 07:50 1st Q…

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