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Cigarettes |

| | | | | Armenteros Handrolled Cigars | | |
ITC is the market leader in cigarettes in India. With its wide range of invaluable brands, it has a leadership position in every segment of the market. It's highly popular portfolio of brands includesInsignia, India Kings, Lucky Strike, Classic, Gold Flake, Navy Cut, Players, Scissors, Capstan, Berkeley, Bristol and Flake, Silk Cut and Duke.
The Company has been able to build on its leadership position because of its single minded focus on value creation for the consumer through significant investments in product design, innovation, manufacturing technology, quality, marketing and distribution.
All initiatives are therefore worked upon with the intent to fortify market standing in the long term. This in turns aids in designing products which are contemporary and relevant to the changing attitudes and evolving socio economic profile of the country. This strategic focus on the consumer has paid ITC handsome dividends.
ITC's pursuit of international competitiveness is reflected in its initiatives in the overseas markets. In the extremely competitive US market, ITC offers high-quality, value-priced cigarettes and Roll-your-own solutions. In West Asia, ITC has become a key player in the GCC markets through growing volumes of its brands.
ITC's cigarettes are produced in its state-of-the-art factories at Bengaluru, Munger, Saharanpur, Kolkata and Pune. These factories are known for their high levels of quality, contemporary technology and work environment.

ITC Limited (BSE: 500875) or ITC is an Indian public conglomerate company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.[1] Its diversified business includes four segments: Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Hotels, Paperboards, Paper & Packaging and Agri Business. ITC's annual turnover stood at $7 billion and market capitalization of over $33 billion. The company has its registered office in Kolkata. It started off as the Imperial Tobacco Company, and shares ancestry with Imperial Tobacco of the United Kingdom, but it is now fully independent, and was rechristened to Indian Tobacco Company in 1970 and then to I.T.C. Limited in 1974.
The company is currently headed by Yogesh Chander Deveshwar. It employs over 26,000 people at more than 60 locations across India and is listed on Forbes 2000. ITC Limited completed 100 years on 24 August 2010.
ITC has a diversified presence in Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Packaging, Agri-Business, Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Information Technology, Branded Apparel, Personal Care, Stationery, Safety Matches and other FMCG products. While ITC is an outstanding market leader in its traditional businesses of Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards, Packaging and Agri-Exports, it is rapidly gaining market share even in its nascent businesses of Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Branded Apparel, Personal Care and Stationery.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 List of products & brands
3 Rural initiatives
4 Corporate philanthropy
5 Forbes ranking
6 Global and other Honours
7 References
8 External links
[edit]History

The company had founded-pioneered canteens for the workers, free medical care, sports facilities and paid holidays. In 1830, the company was renamed W.D. & H.O. Wills. Their first brand was Bristol, made at the London factory from 1871 to 1974. Three Castles and Gold Flake followed in 1878 and Woodbine ten years later.
In 1901 Sir William Henry Wills formed the Imperial Tobacco Company from a merger of W.D. & H.O. Wills with seven other British tobacco companies. Imperial remains one of the world's largest tobacco companies. Embassy was introduced in 1914 and relaunched in 1962 with coupons. The last member of the Wills family to serve the company was Christopher, the great great grandson of H.O. Wills I. He retired as sales 1969.
[edit]List of products & brands

It has been suggested that Classic filter kings be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2010.
In FMCG, ITC has a strong presence in :
Cigarettes: W. D. & H. O. Wills, Gold Flake Kings, Gold Flake Premium, Navy Cut, Insignia, India Kings, Classic (Verve, Menthol, Menthol Rush, Regular,Citric Twist, Mild & Ultra Mild), 555, Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut, Scissors, Capstan, Berkeley, Bristol, Lucky Strike, Players and Flake.
Foods: (Kitchens of India; Ashirvaad,Minto,Sunfeast,Candyman,Bingo,Yippee, Sunfeast Pasta brands in Ready to Eat, Staples, Biscuits, Confectionery, Noodles and Snack Foods);
Apparel: (Wills Lifestyle and John Players brands);
Personal care: (Fiama di Wills; Vivel; Essenza di Wills; Superia; Vivel di Wills brands of products in perfumes, haircare and skincare)[2]
Stationery: (Classmate and PaperKraft brands)
Safety Matches and Agarbattis: [Ship (through ownership of WIMCO); iKno; Mangaldeep; Aim brands]
Other businesses include:
Hotels: ITC's hotels (under brands including WelcomHotel) have evolved into being India's second largest hotel chain with over 80 hotels throughout the country. ITC is also the exclusive franchisee in India of two brands owned by Sheraton International Inc.- The Luxury Collection and Sheraton which ITC uses in association with its own brands in the luxury 5 star segment. Brands in the hospitality sector owned and operated by its subsidiaries include Fortune[disambiguation needed ] and WelcomeHeritage brands.
Paperboard, Specialty Paper, Graphic and other Paper;
Packaging and Printing for diverse international and Indian clientele.
Infotech (through its fully owned subsidiary ITC Infotech India Limited which is a SEI CMM Level 5 company)
[edit]Rural initiatives

ITC's Agri-Business is India's second largest exporter of agricultural products. ITC is one of the India's biggest foreign exchange earners (US $ 2 billion in the last decade). The Company's 'e-Choupal' initiative is enabling Indian agriculture significantly enhance its competitiveness by empowering Indian farmers through the power of the Internet. This transformational strategy, which has already become the subject matter of a case study at Harvard Business School, is expected to progressively create for ITC a huge rural distribution infrastructure, significantly enhancing the Company's marketing reach.
The company places computers with Internet access in rural farming villages; the e-Choupals serve as both a social gathering place for exchange of information (choupal means gathering place in Hindi) and an e-commerce hub. What began as an effort to re-engineer the procurement process for soy, tobacco, wheat, shrimp, and other cropping systems in rural India has also created a highly profitable distribution and product design channel for the company—an e-commerce platform that is also a low-cost fulfillment system focused on the needs of rural India. The e-Choupal system has also catalyzed rural transformation that is helping to alleviate rural isolation, create more transparency for farmers, and improve their productivity and incomes.
[edit]Corporate philanthropy

ITC e-choupal creatively leverages information technology to set up a meta-market in favour of India's small and poor farmers, who would otherwise continue to operate and transact in 'un-evolved' markets.
As of July 2010, services through 6500 Echoupal across 10 states, reach more than 4 million farmers in about 40,000 villages. Free access to Internet is also opening windows of rural India to the world at large.
ITC e-choupal is now being regarded as a reliable delivery mechanism for resource development initiatives. Its potential is being tested through pilot projects in healthcare, educational services, water management and cattle health management with the help of several service providers including non-governmental organizations.
Classmate notebooks were launched with the initiative of contributing 1 rupee towards the education of poor children,from every four notebooks it sold.
Classmate, has launched a programme called Classmate Ideas for India challenge. The programme would be a part of the company's centenary initiative.[3] The nation-wide programme would invite ideas of the youth, who have the potential to transform India. Classmate Ideas for India challenge plans to reach out to 25 lakh students across 30 cities, 500 schools and 200 colleges across the country.[4]
[edit]Forbes ranking

ITC features on the Forbes Global 2000 rankings for 2007 at position 1256.[5]
ITC is the only Indian FMCG company that features on the Forbes Global 2000 rankings for 2009 at position 987.[6]
ITC also featured on the Forbes World's Most reputable Companies List at position 95.[7]
[edit]Global and other Honours

ITC is the first from India and among the first 10 companies in the world to publish its Sustainability Report in compliance (at the highest A+ level) with theest G3 guidelines of the Netherlands-based Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a UN-backed, multistakeholder international initiative to develop and disseminate globally applicable Sustainability Reporting Guidelines.
ITC is the first Indian company and the second in the world to win the prestigious Development Gateway Award. It won the $100,000 Award for the year 2005 for its trailblazing ITC e-Choupal initiative which has achieved the scale of a movement in rural India. The Development Gateway Award recognizes ITC's e-Choupal as the most exemplary contribution in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for development during the last 10 years. ITC e-Choupal won the Award for the importance of its contribution to development priorities like poverty reduction, its scale and replicability, sustainability and transparency.
ITC has won the inaugural 'World Business Award', the worldwide business award recognising companies who have made significant efforts to create sustainable livelihood opportunities and enduring wealth in developing countries. The award has been instituted jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the HRH Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF).
ITC is the first Corporate to receive the Annual FICCI Outstanding Vision Corporate Triple Impact Award in 2007 for its invaluable contribution to the triple bottom line benchmarks of building economic, social and natural capital for the nation.
ITC has won the Golden Peacock Awards for 'Corporate Social Responsibility (Asia)' in 2007, the Award for ‘CSR in Emerging Economies 2005’ and ‘Excellence in Corporate Governance' in the same year. These Awards have been instituted by the Institute of Directors, New Delhi, in association with the World Council for Corporate Governance and Centre for Corporate Governance.
ITC Hotel Royal Gardenia, Bengaluru is the first Indian Hotel and world's largest, to get the LEED Platinum rating - the highest green building certification globally.
The Stockholm Challenge 2006 for the e-Choupal initiative. This award is for using Information Technology for the economic development of rural communities.
United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Award at the international conference on Sharing Innovative Agribusiness Solutions 2008 at Cairo for ITC's exemplary initiatives in agri business through the e-Choupal.
The Corporate Social Responsibility Crown Award for Water Practices from UNESCO and Water Digest for its distinguished work carried out in the water sector in India. ITC also received the National Award for Excellence in Water Management 2007 in the 'beyond the fence' category from the CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre for its leadership role in implementing water and watershed management practices.
The watershed programme also won the Asian CSR Award 2007 for Environmental Excellence given by the Asian Institute of Management. The Award recognizes and honours Asian companies for outstanding, innovative and world-class projects. The Company also received the Ryutaro Hashimoto Incentive Prize 2007 for Environment & Development from the Asia Pacific Forum. This Award aims at promoting information dissemination of good practices towards sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Readers' Digest Pegasus Award for corporate social responsibility, recognising outstanding work done by socially conscious companies.
The Corporate Award for Social Responsibility 2008 from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in recognition of its exemplary initiatives in implementing integrated watershed development programmes across 7 states in India. The company also won the award in 2004 for its e-Choupal initiative. The Award provides impetus to sustainable development and encourages ongoing social responsibility processes within the corporate sector.
The 'Enterprise Business Transformation Award' for Asia Pacific (Apac), instituted by Infosys Technologies and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania for its celebrated e-Choupal initiative.
The Best Corporate Social Responsibility Practice Award 2008 jointly instituted by the Bombay Stock Exchange, Times Foundation and the NASSCOM Foundation.
The NASSCOM – CNBC IT User Award 2008 in the Retail & Logistics category. The Company has been recognised for its pro-active and holistic approach to IT adoption and the seamless alignment of IT with business strategy. This is the fourth time that ITC has won Nasscom's Best IT User Award since it was instituted in 2003.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting with its Annual Report and Accounts, adjudged as a commendable entry under the Category 'Manufacturing and Trading Enterprises’.
The Business Today Award for the Best Managed Company in recognition of its outstanding initiatives in the consumer products segment.
Ranked no.63 in The Brand Trust Report published by Trust Research Advisory in 2011.
[edit]References

^ "History and Evolution of ITC Limited". ITC Limited. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
^ "ITC Personal Care Products".
^ "ITC: Leading Multi-business conglomerate turns 100". The Economic Times. 2010-08-24.
^ "ITC launches Classmate Ideas challenge". Business Line. 2010-08-23.
^ ITC shifts media account to Madison from Lintas Read more: ITC shifts media account to Madison from Lintas - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/ITC-shifts-media-account-to-Madison-from-Lintas/articleshow/6772430.cms#ixzz14ViJTAT3
^ "The Global 2000". Forbes. 2009-04-08.
^ Kneale, Klaus (2009-05-06). "World's Most Reputable Companies: The Rankings". Forbes.
[edit]External links

Official website Companies portal
[hide] v d e BSE SENSEX companies of India
Airtel Bajaj Auto BHEL Cipla Coal India DLF HDFC HDFC Bank Hero MotoCorp Hindalco HUL ICICI Bank Infosys ITC Jaypee Group Jindal Steel & Power KEC International L&T Mahindra & Mahindra Maruti Suzuki NTPC

SWOT including cigarettes, hotels, paper, agriculture, packaged foods and confectionary, branded apparel, personal care, greetings cards, Information Technology, safety matches, incense sticks and stationery. Examples of its successful new FMCG products include: * Aashirvaad - India's most popular atta brand with over 50% market share. It is also present in spices and instant mixes. * Mint-o - Mint-0 Fresh is the largest cough lozenge brand in India. * Bingo! - a new introduction of finger snacks. * Kitchens of India - pre-prepared foods designed by ITC's master chefs. * Sunfeast - is ITC's biscuit brand (and the sub-brand is also used on some pasta products).
Strengths
ITC leveraged it traditional businesses to develop new brands for new segments. For example, ITC used its experience of transporting and distributing tobacco products to remote and distant parts of India to the advantage of its FMCG products. ITC master chefs from its hotel chain are often asked to develop new food concepts for its FMCG business.
ITC is a diversified company trading in a number of business sectors including cigarettes, hotels, paper, agriculture, packaged foods and confectionary, branded apparel, personal care, greetings cards, Information Technology, safety matches, incense sticks and stationery.
Weaknesses
The company's original business was traded in tobacco. ITC stands for Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited. It is interesting that a business that is now so involved in branding continues to use its original name, despite the negative connection of tobacco with poor health and premature death.
To fund its cash guzzling FMCG start-up, the company is still dependant upon its tobacco revenues. Cigarettes account for 47 per cent of the company's turnover, and that in itself is responsible for 80% of its profits. So there is an argument that ITC's move into FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) is being subsidised by its tobacco operations. Its Gold Flake tobacco brand is the largest FMCG brand in India - and this single brand alone hold 70% of the tobacco market.
Opportunities
Core brands such as Aashirvaad, Mint-o, Bingo! And Sun Feast (and others) can be developed using strategies of market development, product development and marketing penetration.
ITC is moving into new and emerging sectors including Information Technology, supporting business solutions. e-Choupal is a community of practice that links rural Indian farmers using the Internet. This is an original and well thought of initiative that could be used in other sectors in many other parts of the world. It is also an ambitious project that has a goal of reaching 10 million farmers in 100,000 villages. Take a look at eChoupal here http://www.itcportal.com/agri_exports/e-choupal_new.htm
ITC leverages e-Choupal in a novel way. The company researched the tastes of consumers in the North, West and East of India of atta (a popular type of wheat flour), then used the network to source and create the raw materials from farmers and then blend them for consumers under purposeful brand names such as Aashirvaad Select in the Northern market, Aashirvaad MP Chakki in the Western market and Aashirvaad in the Eastern market. This concept is tremendously difficult for competitors to emulate.
Chairman Yogi Deveshwar's strategic vision is to turn his Indian conglomerate into the country's premier FMCG business.
Per capita consumption of personal care products in India is the lowest in the world offering an opportunity for ITC's soaps, shampoos and fragrances under their Wills brand.
Threats
The obvious threat is from competition, both domestic and international. The laws of economics dictate that if competitors see that there is a solid profit to be made in an emerging consumer society that ultimately new products and services will be made available. Western companies will see India as an exciting opportunity for themselves to find new market segments for their own offerings.
ITC's opportunities are likely to be opportunities for other companies as well. Therefore the dynamic of competition will alter in the medium-term. Then ITC will need to decide whether being a diversified conglomerate is the most competitive strategic formation for a secure future.
ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name of 'Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited'. Its beginnings were humble. A leased office on Radha Bazar Lane, Kolkata, was the centre of the Company's existence. The Company celebrated its 16th birthday on August 24, 1926, by purchasing the plot of land situated at 37, Chowringhee, (now renamed J.L. Nehru Road) Kolkata, for the sum of Rs 310,000. Read mo