From L’Oreal to Unilever, global FMCG giants step up India investments to expand retail reach

New Delhi: Global consumer products makers have reported strong consumer demand and market share gains in India in the June quarter, highlighting India's role as a long-term growth engine and have indicated plans to step up investments to strengthen their presence in one of the world's fastest-growing consumer markets.

Global consumer goods majors such as Mondelez International, L'Oreal, Reckitt, Unilever, Nestle and The Coca-Cola Company see India as a key growth market and a major driver of future growth.

In their earnings calls, their top executives have pointed to resilient consumer demand, accelerating premiumisation, expanding distribution networks, focus on low-price packs, strong performance of digital and e-commerce channels, and rising market share across categories in India.


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American snacking major Mondelez International, maker of brands such as Oreo, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Toblerone, said demand remained "solid" in India during the second quarter of 2026 and that it expanded its retail reach by adding another 1,00,000 stores in the country.

"Consumer confidence in the emerging markets, I would say, overall is stable and pretty good. India is very strong," Mondelez Chairman and CEO Dirk Van de Put said during the company's earnings call.

French beauty products maker L'Oreal said its India business continued to accelerate in the first half of 2026.

Giving a "Special shout-out" to India, which saw a strong acceleration at over 70 per cent in the June quarter, ahead of the market, its CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said: "We have lots of growth opportunities. In India, it's even a bit lower. Clearly it's a focus. The good news is that e-commerce is really doing great, and we are getting better at playing."

British FMCG major Reckitt, which owns brands such as Dettol, Durex, Harpic and Veet, reported high single-digit growth in India during the June quarter, supported by broad-based gains across categories.

The company attributed the performance to continued sales force automation, wider distribution reach and improved in-store execution.

"India continues to perform very strongly with consistent growth across each of our categories, driven by our loved and trusted Powerbrands and activated through increasingly smart distribution," Reckitt CEO Kris Licht said.

Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez described India, as its second-largest market, as it "accelerated strongly" during the quarter.

"We have achieved record market share in both Laundry and Hair, our two biggest categories," Fernandez said, adding that the company would continue investing in India to protect and strengthen its leadership position.

"We really believe that the next decade is the making of India. We enjoy a privileged position there, and we believe that it will be a key contributor to the growth story of Unilever," he added.

Responding to a query, Unilever CFO Srinivas Phatak said the company ideally wants India to be a high single-digit growth market.

"And if we can have bottom-line growth slightly ahead of top line, I think that it's really a virtuous circle, which then serves the business in India as well as the group very well," he said.

Its Indian arm, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), reported underlying volume growth of 5 per cent and profit-before-tax growth of 11 per cent in the June quarter. Revenue rose 10 per cent year-on-year to Rs 17,184 crore.

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Swiss food and beverages major Nestle SA said India continues to be a strong growth driver for the company, with the market expected to post double-digit growth.

Nestle Chief Executive Officer Philipp Navratil in its earning call said India's performance was "very, very strong" during the quarter.

On the outlook for the India market, Navratil said: "There is a tailwind in terms of the change in sales tax...". Despite this, he maintained that momentum would remain strong. "We still expect double-digit growth coming from India. So India is a growth driver for us, definitely," Navratil said.

Nestle India reported a 48.26 per cent on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 958.68 crore in the June quarter and sales were up 25.4 per cent at Rs 6,363.27 crore.

Beverage giant Coca-Cola, which reported volume growth from the Indian market, reaffirmed its commitment to India as a long-term growth opportunity, citing significant headroom in both affordable and premium segments.

"We do own in India specifically, seven out of the top ten brands today, and building the equity of those brands is our primary goal," The Coca-Cola Company CEO Henrique Braun said while responding to a query on the Asia-Pacific and India region.

He said the company continues to invest in capabilities and brands to capture future growth opportunities in the country.

Similarly, PepsiCo said growth from its beverage and convenient foods businesses in India contributed to the company's revenue growth during the second quarter of 2026.