Global consumer firms are seeing strong demand in India. Companies like Mondelez, Coca-Cola, Pernod Ricard, Reckitt Benckiser, and Carlsberg reported double-digit growth in the March quarter. This follows a period of volatility. Recent GST changes...
Mumbai: Global consumer companies remain gung-ho on India, with Mondelez International, The Coca-Cola Company, Pernod Ricard, Reckitt Benckiser and Carlsberg Group reporting robust demand and double-digit growth in the March quarter despite lingering stress in the broader consumer goods market.
The impressive growth comes after two consecutive volatile quarters for India's consumer sector, when erratic summer weather, heavy monsoon rains and disruption linked to the transition following goods and services tax cuts weighed on sales.
"In India, we had a strong double-digit growth in the first quarter in chocolate and in biscuits," Mondelez International chairman and CEO Dirk Van de Put said during the company's earnings call, noting the recent GST changes were "helping consumption in quite a way".
Most MNCs report strong demand and double-digit growth in March quarter While GST reduction across several consumer products came into effect on September 22, it had led to trade and pricing disruptions for nearly two months. Most consumer companies had expected the full benefit of lower prices and easing inflation to reflect from the March quarter onward.
Van de Put expressed "very positive confidence in India", reflecting improving sentiment among multinational consumer companies. The maker of Cadbury chocolates said its recently launched Biscoff biscuit range had already sold out in the country.
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Executives at The Coca-Cola Company also highlighted India as a key long-term growth market, even as the beverage giant continues to invest in expanding distribution and pricing capabilities.
"We are still far away from getting our overall architecture on revenue growth management and our development capabilities with our bottlers to the stage that we can actually call it a mature market," said Henrique Braun, CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, indicating significant headroom for growth in India.
At Reckitt Benckiser, strong growth was visible across health and hygiene. CEO Kris Licht said India is "accelerating," with broad-based double-digit growth led by brands such as Dettol and Durex.
