Beverage makers' April-June quarter takes a hit due to unseasonal rain

Early monsoon and unseasonal rainfall this year in most parts of the country have impacted the topline of beverage makers in the June quarter.

This has not only impacted sales of the cola brands but also traditional milk-based beverage products, such as lassi, shakes, flavoured milks, and buttermilk.

Interestingly, the beverage makers had early volume gains in 2026 as summer arrived early. They had stocked inventory and channels in anticipation of a repeat of last year's bumper sales.

However, by mid-April, intermittent rainfall started hitting southern and western India, impacting overall which sales from early May.

The Coca-Cola Company Chairman and CEO James Quincey, in the latest investors' call, said the company got a "hit by some early monsoon in India", in the June quarter, which is the important selling season in the country.

The company had a good start in the quarter, but early arrival of monsoon impacted it, said Quincey.

"In India, after a strong start to the year, volume declined, as our business was impacted by early monsoons and geopolitical conflict (India-Pakistan conflict) early in the important summer season," he said.

India is the fifth largest market for The Coca-Cola Company, which operates here with brands as ThumsUp, Sprite, Maaza, Minute Maid, Kinley, besides Coca-Cola and Coke.

For PepsiCo, India continues to be a double-digit growth path; however, its beverage business was also hit in India during the quarter under review.

PepsiCo's International Beverages Franchise (IBF) segment, which focuses on the bottling and distribution of PepsiCo's beverage brands outside of North America, had "a decline in India" in the second (June) quarter, the company said earlier this month in its earnings statement.

IBF includes PepsiCo's international franchise beverage businesses, as well as its SodaStream business. In India, PepsiCo's bottling operations in India are mostly handled by its largest franchisee is Varun Beverages Ltd (VBL).

Several dairy companies also faced an impact on sales of beverage products in the quarter, due to unseasonal rainfall and early arrival of monsoon.

IDA President R S Sodhi told PTI more rain has affected the demand for beverages, including dairy-based ones, this year. Moreover, he said the rural demand is also tight because of inflation.

"The emergence of many local and regional brands in the beverage segment is also impacting sales of large companies," he said.

Tata Consumer Products Ltd, which operates in the beverages segment with its glucose-based drink Gluco+ and Fruski, said volume growth of its ready to drink (RTD) business "was impacted by unseasonal rain" in the June quarter.

"RTD business was impacted by unseasonal rains and recorded a moderate volume growth of 3 per cent," the Tata group FMCG arm said in its earnings statement.

Similarly, home-grown FMCG major Dabur India said its consolidated revenue in the June quarter is expected to grow in low-single digits on account of a decline in beverages, which was impacted during the quarter due to unseasonal rainfall and a short summer.

"The beverage portfolio was impacted during the quarter due to unseasonal rains and short summer," Dabur said earlier this month in its quarterly updates.