How Lactalis Learned to Love Low Margins
State of Agritech - 10th June 2026
1/ Making Sense of FirstClub’s Fundraise
Quick commerce imposes a distribution tax and F&V players die when they confuse freshness with a defensible channel. Otipy tried and failed. Sorted came and pivoted to Handpickd. Wheelocity came and pivoted. Deeprooted came and shut down. Can FirstClub, with its horizontal quick commerce gameplay, crack the F&V code? How does it compare with Freshly’s vertical-but-not-so-quick commerce gameplay?
2/ How Lactalis Learned to Love Low Margins
When most global dairy players (Danone, Nestlé) failed to crack the largest dairy economy on earth, what makes family-owned French dairy player Lactalis tick? And how did Lactalis become the only global dairy giant to build a mass dairy business in India? What is their end-game for India?
If you don’t want CC hassles, you are most welcome to use paypal or UPI (venkat.raman.kr@icici) and pay the annual subscription (8500 INR/95 USD) with your email in the comment. I will enable access immediately.
P.S. Supporting this work doesn’t have to come out of your pocket. If you read this as part of your professional development, you can use this email template to request reimbursement for your subscription.