An HLL spokesperson said about 150 salesmen from the erstwhile Brooke Bond took the VRS recently, under a scheme introduced by the company in consultation with employee representatives.

HLL says it is redefining the role of its frontline sales force from servicing the distributor to being a ''market activator.'' This includes creating brand awareness at the point of purchase through effective merchandising within a store as well as implementing consumer schemes and promotions and watching shopper behaviour closely.

The company clarified that the VRS was offered not to effect any strategic change in the way it manages the customer and sales function, but to bring the deployed resources in line with the marketplace realities and our current business needs.

Having automated its supply chain management (SCM) to ensure monitoring and informed decisions during product replenishment, servicing distributors have become less manpower intensive, sources said. HLL''s sales force included that of Brooke Bond Lipton India which merged with HLL in 1996.