Consumers switching back to buying regular or mid-priced packs in FMCG

Mid-priced packs in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) have started seeing an increase in consumer spending in the past three to four weeks, the Economic Times report said. 

The demand for regular packs has revived especially in categories like snacks, biscuits, edible oil, and detergents after more than a year, indicating increased spending from consumers which may help the FMCG sector in recovery.

According to the report, the manufacturers said that sales increased for mid-priced or regular packs that are mostly priced between Rs 30 and Rs 80-90 in both cities and tier-I towns, including in modern retail and e-commerce as consumers switched from buying small packets to regular ones.

Quoting Mayank Shah, senior category head at Parle Products, the ET report highlighted that there has been a trend reversal among consumers as they are switching from purchasing smaller packets to regular ones in the past month.

According to the President of RSPL Group Sushil Kumar Bajpai, with inflation under control, the demand for regular-sized packets is visible across price points and not just the popular price points. Angshu Mallick, the managing director at Adani Wilmar, attributed this shift to a decrease in prices of edible oil and commodities, the report said.

Market researcher NielsenIQ's in its December quarter release said that due to inflation, consumers for more than a year have been preferring small packs in modern trade stores as well as local kiranas.

Since 2020, the pandemic caused an increase in the prices of soaps and detergents due to a steep rise in the price of palm and crude oil. This caused the consumers to shift to smaller cheaper packets.