CRISIL Food Exports Project: Holding Findings Under Client Pushback
Delivered a food export feasibility analysis whose conclusions differed from the client's expectations, then defended the findings with evidence.
Ahmar Siddiqui
Apprentice at Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
From their time as
Intern
Crisil • 2025 - 2026
Overview
Ahmar was part of a CRISIL project scoping which food products India could feasibly export. The team built a framework, applied an elimination method across a broad initial basket, and arrived at six to seven viable products.
The Story
Ahmar was part of a CRISIL project scoping which food products India could feasibly export. The team built a framework, applied an elimination method across a broad initial basket, and arrived at six to seven viable products.
When the findings were presented, the client pushed back. They had specific products in mind that did not appear in the team's output, and they believed those products were strong candidates given India's production base.
Ahmar and the team held their position by returning to the evidence. For each product the client proposed, they walked through the specific constraints: international competitiveness gaps, regulatory barriers, and unit economics that made export unviable at scale. The conversation was direct, and the team did not revise the analysis to accommodate the client's preference.
The experience also surfaced a process lesson Ahmar carried forward. He recognized that asking the client upfront what was already on their radar would have allowed the team to address those specific products within the original scope, rather than running a second analysis after the presentation. The lesson shaped how he scopes research briefs going forward: outcome clarity before the work begins.