The policymakers and economists are talking about the robust economic growth of the country despite the global challenges. However, the marketers of everyday consumption goods claim that are no such indications of a pickup in the demand. They claim that things might get worse.
Varun Berry, the managing director of Britannia Industries, the biscuits maker stated that the whole FMCG scenario has turned worse and most categories are tending downwards. It does not appear to be a 7.5 percent growth in the country’s economy.
As per the industry officials citing data by Nielson, the research firm the sales growth across the categories of FMCG from biscuits to detergents has faced a slow down of 5 percent to 6 percent in the first couple of months this year. In the first three months of the last year, the same was 11 percent to 12 percent. The companies as well as analysts state that the weak disposable income and the sustained inflation have resulted in consumers choosing for the cheaper products across all the FMCG categories.
Sushil Kumar Bajpai, the RSPL President, the marker of the largest detergent brand in the country, Ghari, the market is a depressive one and there are no indications of betterment in the coming months. He stated that the growth depends on macroeconomic factors such as monsoon instead of the firm providing freebies and discounts in order to trigger sales. The discounts and offers give a share of the market. The companies take the share from the other firms and grow quickly. This practice will not help addressing the issue of the overall category growth. Notably, biscuits and detergents contribute to a sum of Rs 45,000 crore to the FMCG market.
Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister announced a slew of sops last month in the speech at the Budget that were aimed at spurring the rural consumption. The schemes on crop insurance employment, health insurance, infrastructure, social reforms, and recapitalizing of the banking system are the ones.
