@manoj I did not care (pun intended) to buy into CARE because,

1. There is this conflict of interest with rating agencies all the time. It is behaviourally difficult to downgrade a company’s bond etc. when that company is paying you and when that company is a source of your revenues. I read few books related to 2009 financial crisis and was fascinated by how these rating agencies work. Fascinated here in a sarcastic way.

2. It’s difficult to rate a company because it is difficult to know practically ALL the details of a company and one fine day some issue sees the light of the day and the rating company which rated it so far will be thrashed.

3. It is for this reason I did not invest in rating agencies and the reason showed up itself in Amtek for example. This is not the first one and the last one, you will see many such instances in corporate India as our economy leaps in the coming years.

4. In way, these are like aviation companies. Once in a while a plane crashes which could be due to manufacturer fault or the airlines but more than manufacturer’s stock the airlines stock is hammered. See what happened to Malaysian airlines. Bad example, eh?

5. HOWEVER, I think the BOND market itself is so HUGE that opportunities to grow in this field are AMPLE, just that a black swan event could pull you down by 2-3 years in terms of stock price. So, why buy when there are other opportunities.

6. I won’t invest 2-3% in a stock, it should be around 10% at least and I’m not comfortable investing 10% YET.

7. Stock hitting 52 week low due to ‘so and so’ reason which is beyond companies hands should never be a REASON to buy it.

This is my thinking and I could be entirely wrong.

Did you consider CARE ? With Amtek Auto debacle beating CARE stock price down to 52W low, I feel CARE is cheaper now and more attractive compared to many others. Your take ?

So, here you go with my little observation to understand CCL Products’ Continental Coffee.

Tested products were Continental Speciale vs. Nescafe Classic.

1. Both are instant coffees
2. CCL one is Granules type (more premium than powder as it retains aroma better?) while Nescafe was powder.
3. Cost-wise, 50 gms Continental Coffee costed me 75 INR while 25 gms Nescafe costed me 65 INR (could not find 50 gms bottle, not sure if cost would be considerably less). Continental is being offered with 10 INR discount, so looks like product is not moving? Not sure. But then the company has just started it retail entry, so let’s give them a bit leeway.
4. Quantity to be used: Nescafe being powder, had to be used a bit more (2.5 spoons Nescafe vs. 2 spoons Continental)

To my surprise, I found Continental to be more Coffee like (strong, rich, aroma – may be granules variety playing part here) while Nescafe is enhanced with something else to make it sweeter. Another way to phrase the sentence, the taste is not so much different at least that Nescafe powder should cost around twice (or 80%) more than the Continental granules.
Disclaimer: Taste is a SUBJECTIVE matter and what I felt might be different from what others feel.

Bias

In order to eliminate stock holding bias, I involved my mother in this little experiment without telling her the intention. All that I told was, we will buy which ever tastes better. She too independently told that Continental is better. I did not say my observation to her first and asked her as in that case psychologically she would be inclined to agree with me not to sound different than from opinion. So, here we have 2 new customers for Continental from today! Bye-Bye Nescafe.

Packaging

1. Nescafe packaging is more premium. The look and feel of the bottle, the top cap color (brown) and feel of the bottle while holding it are premium actually.
2. Continental cap has ridges to open the cap easily while the Nescafe is plain, so rotation is a bit difficult in comparision while your hands are wet. I know, I’m being finicky, but let me put my observations anyway.

Calories

Total calories of Continental calories are lesser than Nescafe while protein content in Nescafe is more.

Conclusion

I feel if people were to try once both of them, majority would vote for Continental and pricing being half is the real kicker! I asked my wife if she would buy after telling the price and my taste observation, she said yes.

With current 1000 MTs of selling coffee in India, does not the domestic market itself has HUGE potential if market were to realize Continental or rather company focuses in building the brand in a cost effective manner (like Page?)

I know this would be too much of positive bias, confirmation bias, holding bias form my side. So, I request other forum member to do this little 140 INR experiment and tell the observations.

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Hi,

I just had a look on SCI last 3 Qtr numbers. Its seems company has turned around & its Achhe Din has arrived .Company has started making good profits now Debt has also reduced with bumper increase in PAT since last 2-3 Qtrs. This company has a record of very good Dividend payout in the year FY2006 to FY 2011, when it was making profits. So dividend of 3-4 Rs cannot be ruled out in FY16, which will make it a 5-6% Div yeild stock at CMP. Considering the low Oil Prices & possibility of Dividend this year,I think this company can give very good returns in next 2-3 Qtrs. PFA the Qtry Data for everybody’s refrence. Technicals also looking very strong. Other’s valuable views are welcome.Thanks.

Disclosure-: Invested

SCI DATA.pdf (36.1 KB)