Marico/BI India
Marico’s hair oil brand Parachute, which has a dominant 50% share in the coconut oil market, saw a 7% growth in volumes sold. Marico’s overall sales volumes were 8%, the lowest since the pandemic broke out in March. Marico decided to do away with freebies along with Parachute oil bottles — leading to a 5-6% reduction in input costs — while the company’s raw material cost has surged over 556 basis points over last year. 100 basis points make a percent.
Edible oil consumption has slowed down, for all brands, partly due to the spectacular rise in prices over the last one year as well as due to people stepping out more to eat out.
Nestle has the lion’s share of the instant noodles market, with its brand Maggi that is synonymous with the segment, but it has been slow to hike prices. The company has clocked a double-digit growth and increased its prices 1-3% across products this year.
Overall, the festive season has been a mixed bag. While some of the segments got to celebrate, others had to wait for their turn.