Higher demand for food products in the three months to March led to the first sales volumes growth for fast-moving consumer goods ( FMCG ) after six quarters, even as sales volumes in the home and personal care ( HPC ) segment remained flat, showed NielsenIQ data. FMCG sales volumes increased 4.3% on-year during the quarter, whereas HPC saw a marginal 0.2% growth, according to data from the market research firm.Companies said there was a significantly higher growth in sales of branded packaged foods than their unbranded counterparts because of their lower share compared to other household products. "Foods (segment) has a far more urban skew and also a little bit of top-down modern trade ecommerce skew. Typically, any recovery starts with staples and foods before consumers start buying HPC products, especially in the premium space. Large companies drove recovery in the segment with a growth of 0.6%, while small manufacturers saw their HPC products volume decline 1.8%.

Source: Economic Times May 11, 2023 09:39 UTC