India top scorer in Asia-Pacific for consumer goods biggies
Indian market has outperformed the rest of Asia Pacific including China for some of the biggest global consumer goods companies in the past quarter, according to their post-earnings management commentaries.
Several of these companies, including Mondelez International, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Pernod Ricard, Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever, Levis Strauss & Co, Yum! Brands, Honeywell International and AO Smith, reported strong growth going up to double digits in their India businesses in the July-September quarter.
The India performance was also among the best across all emerging markets for these multinationals. Apple and Coca-Cola posted their highest sales and volume performance in several years, while alcohol beverage majors Pernod Ricard and Budweiser Brewing Company said they expect the India business to drive their global numbers this fiscal year due to strong trends of product premiumisation.
Strong demand
The top executives of these companies said demand in India remained very strong.
Snacking giant Mondelez's chairman and chief executive Dirk Van de Put said consumer demand in India in the past quarter was at a four-year high.
Coca-Cola chairman and CEO James Quincey said the company is seeing «consumer strength across Latin America, India and in parts of Central and Southeast Asia. On the other hand, consumer confidence in spending has yet to fully recover in Africa and China».
The renewed optimism of global consumer goods giants comes at a time when industry trackers across products, such as fast-moving consumer goods, groceries, consumer electronics and mobile phones, have been reporting improving demand month-on-month in India with inflation moderating.
Demand has further improved in October, the first month of
