SUSHIL SONAWANE

• Responsible for developing and executing the category strategy to drive growth and profitability & worked closely with suppliers, product development teams, and sales teams to ensure cotton seed offerings meet the needs of customers and business objectives Alignments
• Drove the achievement of the commercial ambition (Revenue & Gross margin) in close collaboration with the sales channels & marketing team
• Launched 3 AgroStar Brands in field crops in 2023 with GTM implementation & 3 are in Pipeline.
• Created strong relationship with suppliers/vendors & collaborate for mutual business growth
• Conducted market research on regular basis to understand customer brand preference which helped in strategize & preparing annual & monthly plans
• Explored opportunity in expansion & strengthened the Private Label portfolio
• Conducted product training on new PL launches, its positioning & USP
• Studied technical aspects of managed category to identify key quality attributes and cost containment levels
• Reduced business risk by improving contract coverage for suppliers in spend category
• Practiced standard sourcing process of opportunity assessment through supplier on-boarding to achieve goals.
• Negotiated pricing and contracts with suppliers to maximize profits.
• Conducted regular reviews of inventory levels and adjusted purchasing plans accordingly.
• Collaborated with marketing team to create targeted advertising campaigns based on consumer trends.

Achievements-

• FY-22- 65% growth in Cotton Business. From 39 Cr to 60 Cr.
• Received most prestigious award from "AGROSTAR- MAKE IT DIFFERENCE".
• FY-23- Achieved 8% growth in cotton business. 60 Cr to 65 Cr. In PL (Agrostar brand) Cotton Achieved Net Sales 14 Cr from Rs. 4.87 Cr Ly.
• Wheat - Achieved PL Wheat Net sales of Rs.12.30 Cr in 2nd year from Rs.1.3 Cr. However in NPL (Brand) sales achieved Rs. 11.5 Cr from Rs 2.76 cr Ly.
• Received "CHAMPION of The Quarter" Award for Cotton sales.

• Worked with Multi-Stakeholders like Farmer, Trade, Agril Dept(Govt), Ginners,NGO's, Seed company employees as technical person for BT-Technology in Cotton.
• Associated with Agriculture dept to educate stakeholder on IRM front and Technology perspective ( Ie.JDA, ADO, DDA, Dean of University, Scientists).
• Conducted various Market survey ie Demand estimation Survey (Hybrids Growth & De-growth), CLE Survey, Illegal Cotton survey, Hybrid Index Survey, Dipstick Survey
• Tracked Placement Vs Achievements of BT Cotton sales in Territory with 98%accuracy.
• Devised SWOT analysis of multiple Hybrids of cotton seed companies.
• Participated & leveraged govt Platform, Sub licensee's platform for training to their Officials & farmers on Cotton
• Provided technical support and coordinating with 50+ Sub-licensees ie (Seeds companies) selling Bt Cotton seeds of Monsanto Technology.
• Handled team of 7 Market Development Officers in territory.

Achievements-

• Winner of prestigious award of BAYCHMP in Gold Category for Best performance in the year of 2020 & 21.

• Function: Product & Business Development Planning of new product 9(3) in Dhanuka portfolio by: Applying different market strategies Market Research Primary Survey Market & Sales data analysis Looking after Herbicide segment for Western Maharashtra
• Worked in Herbicide segment for North & East India Trained field sales team, farmers for upcoming new products
• Conducted Demo and field days, farmer meetings for herbicide products as well as Insecticides products on need basis
• Conducted Market survey in various crops and geography for Product opportunity and Product fitment ie Carrot (UP) Onion (Maharashtra, Bihar, UP, West Bengal, Orissa, Rajasthan) Sugarcane (Maharashtra, UP) Paddy (Haryana, UP, Uttarakhand,West Bengal, Tamilnadu), Sesame (West Bengal), Jute (WB), Cole crop (Maharashtra) Maize (Maharashtra) Black gram (UP) Cotton (Panjab,Haryana,MH),Soybean (MH)
• Advising and coordinating with publicity team for finalization of label of new products - Herbicide.
• Established pricing strategies that maximize profits while remaining competitive in the marketplace.
• Planned product launches by creating promotional campaigns for new product introductions.
• Analyzed month wise sales and setting targets for new products
• Responsible for market survey, demo, field day, farmers meeting and campaign for 9(3) Herbicides
• Gained valuable insight into buyer preferences by conducting interviews, surveys and focus groups.
• Worked closely with stakeholders on evolving strategy to meet market trends and shifts.

• Project: Survey on Targa super and Competitive product AGIL (Herbicide)
• This project includes study of Targa Super and Agil Markets in Satana, Malegaon,Kalwan, Nandgaon pockets of Nasik District to be able to get suggestions for Targa Super volume improvement
• Studied current market scenario of Targa Super and competitive product Agil.
• Studied perception of Dealers, sub-dealers and Farmers about Targa Super Visited more than 60 villages for different survey
• Maintained positive attitude despite any hurdles.
• Developed a comprehensive marketing strategy for Dhanuka Agritech ltd.