Summer Internship Experience In A Candy Company - Perfetti | The Perfect FMCG Experience

"Perfetti Van Melle is one of the most sought-after companies in the industry owing to its employee-centric work culture. This was evidenced by the comments of the office caretaker who served us tea and took care of us during work hours. I believe you really get the true picture of a company by interacting at the bottom of the pyramid. He had been with the company for the past 25 years and was very happy working under the management who have made him feel a sense of belongingness which gave him fulfillment in his work. I don’t believe that I needed better evidence than this," says Maanik Narayanan, Sales and Marketing intern, Perfetti Van Melle. Read to know his summer internship experience!

I cannot imagine getting a better FMCG experience than what I got here. I say this primarily because Perfetti has the perfect mix of a positive work culture (rare in most FMCGs) and business orientation.

Being market leaders in the confectionary space, you would get an opportunity to work with iconic brands like Mentos, CenterFresh, Alpenleibe, Happydent, ChupaChups, JuztJelly and many more!

What makes a company is its people. I’ve had the privilege of being mentored by some of the brightest minds in the industry and gained unparalleled exposure to the industry. The company makes sure that it nurtures you to become a well rounded industry professional which I find most important. I agree with the quote “You’ll know a company is poor, if all it can offer you is money”. In my experience there’s loads to learn from working in this organization and it is sure to put your career in a high growth trajectory.

3 faceted preparation strategy for summer internship

The placement journey for every student is filled with uncertainty. As I knew that there are several variables at play, I wanted to ensure that I am holistically prepared before I sit in front of the interviewers. In order to do the same, I divided my placement preparation into 3 key facets.

Domain Knowledge

I’ve always placed great emphasis on the value of theoretical knowledge. As I believe that effective practical implementation can only be done when one’s fundamentals are deep and strong. In order to build those:

1. I inculcated a habit of reading books on business, economics, and marketing. The rewards I reaped from this habit have been multi-fold, as I was always able to bring up an interesting conversation through the knowledge and perspective obtained from these books.
2. I diligently studied the disciplines of Sales, Marketing and Strategy. This was done through the dossier provided to us by our college along with several articles, books and blogs on the internet. I made sure that I’m thorough with the necessary frameworks and concepts. I went through several case studies where I tried to apply the concepts I learned, hence cementing my understanding further.

Soft Skills

A person may have all the knowledge in the world, but it’s of no use unless they learn how to effectively communicate it out of their heads. There are 2 ways to do that:

1. Oral communication: I started talking to as many people as I could. Be it my peers, faculty and friends. I consciously made sure that I’m speaking in English so that I am able to naturally express myself as effectively as I would in Hindi. I also paid attention to my body language and tonality which has a considerable impact on any conversation.
2. Written communication– As we had to fill out descriptive forms while applying for companies, I practiced creative writing so that I’m able to get my ideas on paper as intended with the right sentence structures.

Frame of Mind

In retrospect, I believe that paying attention to my mental state was the best thing I did. If my mind wasn’t sharp, focused and in a state of calmness, all the above tangible skills would not have come out when intended. This mindset had to be developed as well as maintained throughout. Placements are one of the most intense processes a student goes through. It’s a game of endurance and grit. Maintaining a can-do attitude and learning from any failures while consistently moving forward is key.

Interview process at Perfetti - The Mentos company

The first round was a test to evaluate our quantitative abilities and psychometric inclinations. After the shortlist, I had 2 further rounds where the interviewers mainly focused on getting to know me, my ambitions, and my abilities. The process was quite candid I felt, which is what I appreciated about it the most. The recruiters made sure that we were comfortable to bring out the best in us.

The conversation I remember was really humane. Usually, I feel many companies actually take out the human element and assess us as machines on our hard abilities. Whereas, my interview was more focused on finding substance in me. The panelists were trying to discover who I am, what gets me out of bed, my motivations, my ambitions, my work ethic, etc. It was a very value-centric conversation and through it, they were able to assess both my abilities and my personality. After being selected, I was certain that I would definitely fit well into such a positive people-centric culture.

Here, I really want to share an interesting anecdote related to the group discussion round!

I had an unexpected yet fun experience in a group discussion I was part of for one of the companies I sat for. Usually group discussions run fierce and filled with well developed arguments. Expecting the same to happen I put my armour on and was ready to step into the ring, to rumble with my fellow colleagues in the discussion. It was an intimate group of 3 candidates, which is lower than the number of people you’d expect to be in a group discussion. We had 3 interviewers in the panel as well. I did sense that there’s something unusual going on here. What was expected to be an intense group discussion turned out to be a fun filled activity, where each candidate had to team up with one of the panellists!

We were all given a problem to solve, with the help of our guides and present our solutions to each other. We then had to critically evaluate each other’s performances while we defended our own solutions. This is where the panellists were butting in with quirky comments about the opposing teams while keeping the environment very light and fun to discuss. It was indeed the most memorable round of the process, where the panel wanted to see how we performed in our absolute relaxed states!

Impress recruiters with honest and transparent conversation

I had rigorously prepared my marketing fundamentals in the past month. The 4Ps, the matrices and the frameworks. I was brimming with confidence to answer any technical question that the recruiters may have for me. But well, that’s not at all what the interview was about, as you would’ve guessed from the previous answer.

The reason I was chosen, I think was because I reciprocated the candidness that they were showing me. They put me at ease, and in return I had plain, honest and transparent conversation with them. Complementing that, we touched upon my value systems and the things I hold dearly to. So after this, I think that the recruiters felt that I was a good personality fit to their organisation and culture, supplemented by a sharp understanding of the subject matter.

To fellow juniors who aspire to work for Perfetti Van Melle, I would advise them to have honesty and integrity at the core of their answers. Unnecessary showboating, arrogance or inflated answers without substance isn’t going to get you anywhere. The company looks for smart, sharp, hardworking yet grounded people to work in their team.

An exciting and engaging onboarding experience

Normally we would expect long PPTs and lectures on our first day about the company and our respective projects. But that’s not how a fun candy company like Perfetti works. What we had was a riveting first day filled with fun activities, games and mini-competitions!

What I appreciated most about this was that it was able to get all of us to interact with each other by breaking any and every ice in the room. In an 8 hour window, the on-boarding process resulted in me knowing each and every intern very well. One of them even played a harmless prank on me. I was delighted as this really speaks to how close all of us got, in just a couple of hours.

After this wonderful Day 1, we got down to business where we understood our products at the production facility and consequently got acquainted to our mentors to begin our projects.

Looking after the Modern Trade and E-Commerce channels

My project was in the domain of Sales, and was associated with the Modern Trade and E-Commerce channels. I was primarily tasked with analyzing various price points that we, the competition and the category as a whole operated in. This involved thorough primary research which was both channel and consumer facing. By visiting super and hypermarkets across the country, I was able to understand the category and how retail chains operate.

Through my visits to these stores I also interacted with numerous consumers, trying to understand their purchase rationale, their priorities and their habits. This led me to identifying white spaces in the market and need-gaps in the consumer’s lives. I was then able to give recommendations on how to bridge those need-gaps and maximize off-take at each price point.

I would like to share a personal complement I received on the field, which actually meant more to me than a professional complement. I was on a field visit with one of the female field sales executives in Bangalore. We had to travel from store to store through the entire day. She completed her supervision work and I was supposed to make channel observations in those stores. It comes naturally to me, that I always hold the door for women. Be it while entering a car, a building and also offer to carry anything if it’s of a considerable weight. While I did not actively notice it, my colleague did and she complemented me for my humility. What I realised was that these actions albeit small, make people feel respected while creating a safe and comfortable interacting environment. I cannot wish for a higher complement than this.

A challenge-filled FMCG internship!

FMCG by the nature of its industry is filled with challenges every single day! That was primarily why I was attracted to it. Going on the field, interacting with consumers and dissecting need-gaps is the most raw on-field activity a business can do. Being on the vanguard came with its own challenges. As I had to engage with as many consumers as possible, I had to make sure that they talk.

This involved me understanding behavioural patterns during the shopper journey and determining the best stage to make contact. I started by interacting with them while they were browsing our shelves which did little good.

I realised two flaws in this, the first being that the shopper needs space to think while making purchase decisions and is not interested to talk at that time. And the second being that any questions I ask will involve them consciously thinking about their purchase, which they wouldn’t do if I would’ve left them alone. This would skew their decisions and hence give skewed results for me as well.

To avoid this, I observed the shoppers and let them go through the AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) journey. I then made contact when they reached the cash counter where I had plenty of time to strike up a conversation. A conversation where the customer is much more engaged with me because they don’t have anything better to do at that time than wait in line. So by understanding my discipline and observing these tiny nuances I was able to solve challenges on the field.

The 3 learnings one should never overlook

An internship at Perfetti Van Melle has allowed me to deepen my understanding of markets and enabled me to carve out my own methodologies to reach the required destination.

To pin it down to 3 learnings:

The Art of Engagement: Approaching people in a supermarket to serve your research purposes is not easy. And no one is going to engage with you for more than 30 seconds if you just read out a questionnaire in front of them. The conversation must be bi-directional, interesting and worth enough for people to spend their 5 minutes on you. I had to put proper thought into carrying this out. After that, each conversation got better with practice. The important thing was to start. As I understood this, I was able to generate insights from 300+ customers over the course of my project.
Understanding Trade: Spending hours on the field with sales executives and interacting with store managers gave me insight on how the retail business works. In the primary side, I understood the factors that stores take into account to place orders and give shelf space to brands. In the secondary side, I understood the world of how floor planning and product placement is done. Each product and category is placed after thorough thought in order to maximize the ticket size of each customer.
Taking Ownership: I was given full autonomy by my team to undertake my project as I saw fit. This involved everything from defining my objectives, developing my research methodologies, deciding the markets I want to visit, and the way I want to present my findings. Full ownership comes with full accountability as well. The trust that my team had placed in me, instilled an inherent sense of responsibility to carry out work diligently. Executing the project end to end developed a confidence in me that I am sure to carry forward into any future responsibilities.

Yet I still got to experience what he was talking about first-hand. Everyone in the office was so accessible to us that we could strike up a conversation with anyone, even with the leaders. The company has inculcated a modern, fun and positive environment in the office which is conducive to generating meaningful output from each employee and teams as a whole. Given an opportunity, I would be thrilled to work at Perfetti Van Melle as a full time employee!

"More than 90% of my batchmates faced anxiety"

After undergoing a riveting FMCG project experience, I would recommend juniors to do the following:

Get your fundamentals right: Contrary to popular belief, I’d say that the attention I paid in class to develop my understanding of the subject matter has gone a long way in helping me deliver value to the company through my internship. The concepts and frameworks may not be used directly, but they were integral in developing my thought process and understanding the nuances of this domain. Whenever I’m faced with a problem during my project, I go back to my fundamentals and most often I get my answer.
Develop effective communication: Having this skill at your disposal will go a long way in you expressing your ideas as intended. Practice carrying yourself confidently, join a college club, actively present during class. Try to grab every possible opportunity to hone this skill of yours. I speak from personal experience, this is an acquired skill and not something that you’re born with. It can always be learnt and developed through consistent practice.
Learn to deal with anxiety- Based on my primary research, more than 90% of my batchmates faced anxiety during their placements and internship periods. You’ll find yourself fretting about that interview or that presentation the next day. What will happen? Will it go well or not? Will I get it or not? It’s easy to go down this road. During these times what worked for me was detaching myself from the result and fully committing to the process. All I focussed on was putting in my best effort, because that is the only thing that is under my control. What happens later is just a consequence which is not up-to me. Practicing this kept me level-headed and focussed on the quality of work rather than being distracted by probable results.

Suggested reads:

Maanik Narayanan - NMIMS Mumbai

2021-2023

For him, it's a quest for a deeper understanding of market dynamics and the business ecosystem. Reading, traveling, working out, and cooking are some of his favorite pastimes.