Desi FMCG brands pack Rs 1,000cr punch

MUMBAI: Call it marketing acumen or the strategy of packing in a desi punch within the product, more consumer goods brands are joining the Rs 1,000 crore plus club — Reliance’s Campa and Independence have touched Rs 1,000 crore in annual sales, sources said, and are projected to cross the mark by March end while Coca-Cola’s Maaza now tops Rs 8,000 crore in sales.

There are several brands from the stable of HUL, ITC and Dabur which have surpassed Rs 1,000 crore in sales. The trend is not new; but the share of such brands has not stagnated, it continues to grow, underlining the increasing consumer shift from unbranded to branded consumption.

For HUL, 19 brands currently have sales of over Rs 1,000 crore. The number was 16 in FY22 and 14 in FY21. Then there are also products within a brand that have touched the mark — in the case of ITC, while brand Bingo! is Rs 1,000-crore-plus, Bingo! Tedhe Medhe has also reached that scale. Similar is the case with the firm’s other brand Sunfeast and sub-brand Dark Fantasy.

Building a wide distribution network aside — key to reaching more consumers — brands have also been localising and customising to cater to specific tastes and needs. ITC’s strategy, for instance, has been to identify consumer gaps and leverage the opportunity to expand market share.

“We launched Bingo! snacks to match the Indian taste and palette. Similarly in noodles, some of the key consumer insights were that mothers often found it challenging to fit a square needle block in a round pan…noodles were sticky which impacted the slurp experience. We introduced Yippee! to address these gaps,” Hemant Malik, CEO, foods and executive director at ITC told TOI. The company which has more than five brands in the Rs 1,000-crore-plus cohort is now building products keeping in line with the shifting consumer preferences.
Its atta brand Aashirvaad, for instance, is curating newer variants based on health needs and regional choi ces. Differentiation and innovation have been key levers for ITC, said Malik.

In a diverse market like India, there can be no set rulebook for higher growth but localisation as a strategy seems to pay off. Beverage giant CocaCola had recently said that the benefit of having local brands like Maaza, Limca and Thums Up helped it build a strong portfolio in India where it competes with global and regional players. Reliance’s idea to relaunch heritage Indian brand Campa has worked with the brand having gained more than 10% share in sparkling beverages category in select states.

Dabur, which has four brands with sales of more than Rs 1,000 crore, is betting big on young India which will dictate consumption spends in the decades to come. It plans to increase relevance of time-tested and efficacious products by introducing new-age formats and aspirational packaging. “The repackaging exercise is aimed at tapping into this younger user base. We are restaging our core to reach out to young India,” said Mohit Malhotra, CEO at Dabur India.

For HUL, purpose-driven marketing has been one of the factors contributing to the growth of its brand Surf Excel which belongs to a rare league of brands with sales touching close to Rs 9,000 crore or $1 billion. “Over the years, the brand has developed a strong emotional resonance with consumers, consistently building on the purpose of Daag Acche Hain conveying the message that if you get dirty while doing something good, then dirt is good,” said a company spokesperson.
Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays.

Boost your business with AI. Join this course by GrowFast and unlock the power of artificial intelligence. Sign up now!