“Since April, there has been a gradual sales increase every month and June saw robust demand and recovery,” said Krishnarao Buddha, senior category head at leading biscuits maker Parle Products.
India’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market expanded nearly 40% in June from a month earlier, overcompensating for a sharp decline in May when the segment fell by a third, helped by several states easing restrictions, marketers and industry watchers said.
“Since April, there has been a gradual sales increase every month and June saw robust demand and recovery,” said Krishnarao Buddha, senior category head at leading biscuits maker Parle Products.
“We expect sustained demand even in July although the base last year was extremely high when consumers hoarded packaged food and staples.”
Sales last month were boosted by a 32% increase in the number of kirana outlets that reopened last month and a 6% increase in average monthly purchase, according to a study by sales automation firm Bizom, which tracks sales of 7.5 million retail stores across the country.
While June sales are still down by a fifth compared to a year ago due to pantry loading in the base year, growth during the April-June quarter has risen 8%.
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Localised lockdowns started in April in a few markets, and more than two dozen states had restrictions and night curfews in May that led to the market falling by a third when about a fourth of all kirana outlets were shut despite being allowed to operate with restricted timings.
“June has seen consumer goods consumption covering the entire deficit seen in May,” said Akshay D’Souza, chief marketing officer at Mobisy Technologies that owns Bizom.
