Unilever posts fastest growth in nine years led by India, China

Coca Cola says India was a market of growth; Thums Up become a billion-dollar brand

Unilever’s e-commerce sales grew 44 per cent and helped increase its contribution to overall turnover to 13 per cent in 2021, driven by growth in the US, India and China.

“E-commerce grew 44 per cent on the back of an exceptionally strong year of growth in 2020 and this growth came from all of the main sub channels of e-commerce. It was driven by growth ahead of the market in the US, India and China. In just five years the channel has gone from 2 per cent of Unilever’s turnover to 13 per cent in 2021,” Alan Jope, chief executive officer of Unilever, told its investors after its earnings call.

In its earnings statement, Unilever said in its full-year highlights that it reported the fastest underlying sales growth in nine years of 4.5 per cent, with 2.9 per cent price growth and 1.6 per cent volume growth. India performed strongly by growing at 13 per cent, Jope told investors on the call, and also said that the company stepped up pricing in the country during the year, while maintaining positive volume.

“India and China grew well into double-digits, albeit versus weaker comparators,” Jope said.

In its earnings statement, Jope said that its priority markets of China, India, and the US grew at 14.3 per cent, 13.4 per cent, and 3.7 per cent respectively. The Indian business grew with a balanced split between price and volume. Pricing and savings actions remain important as commodity prices remain elevated, Unilever said in its statement.

Coca Cola

India also turned out to be a market of growth for Coca Cola. In its release, the company said, “For both the quarter and the year, growth in developing and emerging markets was led by China, India, and Russia.”

In Asia Pacific, Coca Cola's unit case volume grew 11 per cent for the quarter, resulting in a low single-digit increase versus 2019. Growth was driven by China, India and the Philippines, it said in its statement. In its bottling investment, its unit case volume grew 13 per cent for the quarter, driven by strong growth in the key markets of India and the Philippines.

Thums-Up, its local brand in the country, has crossed the $1 billion mark in India. “Our local Thums-Up brand became $1 billion brand in India, driven by focused marketing and execution plans,” James Quincey, Coca Cola’s chairman and CEO, told investors in an earnings call.

Quincey also said that in India, marketing campaigns around key occasions and integrated execution drove a sequential increase in market share and nearly 30 per cent growth in transactions for the quarter.

Meanwhile, PepsiCo beverage unit’s volume grew 20 per cent, primarily reflecting double-digit growth in India and Pakistan.