FMCG sector grows 9% in September quarter aided by rural revival: NielsenIQ
India’s villages, crucial for health of the overall FMCG sector, grew 6.4% by volumes, up from 4% in the preceding June-quarter, the researcher said.
“Impulse categories continue to exhibit strong growth, and we see a growth recovery in habit-forming categories such as biscuits, tea, noodles and coffee after five quarters," said Roosevelt D'Souza, lead, customer success at NIQ India.
NielsenIQ flagged higher consumer spending on both essentials and discretionary categories, including personal care and home care products.
“Overall, cooling of inflation in the country fuelled by base effects, a recent decline in unemployment figures, and LPG prices amongst other factors have contributed to the willingness of the consumer to spend,” said Satish Pillai, Managing Director, NIQ India. He said the FMCG sector witnessed further reduction in price growth from last quarter and has given a necessary impetus to spending power of the consumer, evident in rural markets in particular where there is an uptick in consumption across categories.
This comes after four quarters of subdued growth in rural markets, which had declined 2-5% as consumers either downtraded or did not purchase as many goods, impacted by soaring food and fuel prices.
Noting improved consumption trends across the country, NielsenIQ said even as rural markets showed signs of recovery, urban India continued to grow by volume and value.
Within the retail sector, modern trade grew 19.5% during the quarter, with traditional trade seeing a 7.5% rise in consumption, the report said.
Both packaged foods and non-foods grew 8.7% year-on-year.
