FMCG companies in the likes of Adani Wilmar, PepsiCo, Mother Dairy, Bikano, among others, are optimistic about at least 20 per cent growth in 2023, particularly in rural markets, with demand for packaged goods, ready-to-eat segments, and health and wellness products. Besides, health and wellness related products, packaged goods and ready-to-eat segments are expected to bring in most sales. For PepsiCo, its product portfolio of foods and beverages are in high demand and its new flavors and products like Pepsi Black, Quaker Oats Muesli and Lays Gourmet among others, are being sold.

“We also continue to witness strong demand from rural India for some time now, for both our foods and beverage products. This is largely due to labour migration, increased digital penetration and enhanced distribution of our portfolio and rural India switching from unbranded loose products to branded ones,” said Ahmed ElSheikh, President, PepsiCo India.

For BL Agro, edible oil will drive most growth ‘even while there have been wide fluctuations in the oil market in 2022’. Ashish Khandelwal, Managing Director, BL Agro, added, “The consumers have become more conscious now when it comes to eating healthy. They want to consume hygienic, high quality and immunity boosting products even if they have to pay a premium for it.”

Manish Bandlish, Managing Director, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt Ltd, said, “The FMCG market is likely to continue with the same momentum in 2023 as it did in 2022 on account of increased demand for packaged products.” NextG Apex’s Amarnath Halember also said that the firm is betting on packaged goods and is ‘betting on packaging aspects extensively by introducing LUP (Low Unit Packs)’.

For Adani Wilmar, which went public in January 2022, “wheat flour is expected to grow at more than 20 per cent in 2023, besan has grown by more than 30 per cent and will continue to grow, sugar will grow by 20 per cent plus, branded packed food have grown at 25-30 per cent and edible oil is growing at 8-10 per cent”, which will continue in the year 2023, said Angshu Mallick, MD & CEO, Adani Wilmar Ltd.

In terms of the most preferred retail channels, e-commerce and modern trade are likely to work well for FMCG companies in urban markets. “E-commerce sales of FMCG players who adopted the omnichannel model jumped 50 per cent during and after COVID-19 pandemic and are likely to grow further,” said Azaz Motiwala, Founder at IKON Marketing Consultants.

A ‘stellar’ growth on cards

While the FMCG companies expect steady growth in 2023, it will be driven from the rural areas, which is one-third of the overall FMCG market in India. “The FMCG industry grew by 7-8 per cent in 2022 in terms of sales and is likely to grow at the same pace in 2023 if the growth trajectory remains the same. I expect the Food & Beverages sector may grow around 10-12 per cent whereas the Home and personal care segments are likely to grow 8-9 per cent in 2023,’ said Azaz Motiwala. BL Agro is expecting to witness an increase of 100 per cent in sales and has also set up a new manufacturing unit to double its production and fulfill the demand. On the price front, the players in the segment believe that the demand is good at the current prices and there will be no price change right now.