Cold drinks to ACs: Early onset turns summer products into hot picks

From cold drinks, air conditioners to refrigerators are flying off shelves and companies are expanding their capacities as temperatures have already started to soar. This summer comes on the back of last year already witnessing high temperatures which caused demand to treble high.

 

This year, companies have strengthened their supply chains as well to meet soaring demand.

 

Rasna has already seen demand being higher by 30-40 per cent which is aided by demand for beverages due to Ramdan.

 

“A lot of primary stocking-up by distributors has picked-up. But these growth levels may not sustain post Ramadan. We have seen more growth in larger packs this year,” Piruz Khambatta, chairman of Rasna Group told Business Standard.

 

Last year, the company saw its capacity utilisation close to 90-95 per cent. However, this year, the company has added another plant in Patna which has added 15-20 per cent to its overall capacity and is seeing its current capacity utilisation close to 100 per cent, Khambatta added.

 

Baskin Robbins (India) also expects strong double-digit growth this summer season. “Usually demand picks up from March onwards once the heat intensity increases. This year the onset has been at least a month in advance with February being much hotter than usual. We can see the impact in the increased footfalls across our stores as well as in an increase in online orders across multiple platforms,” Mohit Khattar, CEO, Graviss Foods— Baskin Robbins (India).

 

Khattar further explained, “We believe that we are better placed to handle the corresponding surge in demand. While it is still early days, currently the numbers seem to indicate a higher trajectory than last year.”

 

In a recent interview with Business Standard, Sundeep Bajoria, vice president, operations, Coca??'Cola India & Southwest Asia said, We have been fortunate that summer has come in early, and we have been prepared with our significant investment in capacities. In the last four years, we have added more than 100 lines. So we are better prepared to address the consumer demands.”

 

He said that Coca-Cola is prepared with its range of products at the right price points to meet the rising consumer demand which will be higher than last year.

 

PepsiCo India spokesperson said that it is geared up its supply chain and has also expanded its production to ensure seamless availability this summer season.

 

On the consumer durables side, air conditioners and refrigerators are also witnessing strong demand since January.

 

“We have seen strong demand emerge for air conditioners and refrigerators and expect volume and value to increase by 5-8 per cent this summer compared to last year,” Nilesh Gupta, managing director at Vijay Sales said.

 

Godrej Appliances also expects summer demand for refrigerators to be at around 30 per cent while air conditioner demand is expected to be more than 70 per cent compared to last year.

 

“We saw demand for air conditioners start from late January itself and refrigerator demand started to emerge from February,” said Kamal Nandi, business head and executive vice-president at Godrej Appliances.

 

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals has already prepared its inventory levels in anticipation of a strong summer.

 

“We have steadily built our product offerings and have prepared our inventory levels in anticipation of a strong summer as IMD has issued heatwaves alerts across western & northern regions of the country. For us, Q4 and Q1 are historically strong quarters due to run-up and start of summer season and even last season, specifically Q1 FY25, we faced exceptional sales for our cooling products such as fans and air coolers. Channel partners have started building stock levels in anticipation of harsh summers with demand expected to pick-up by April’25,” Kaleeswaran Arunachalam, group CFO & head of strategy, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals said. 

Firming up

 

> Godrej Appliances expects demand for refrigerators to rise by 30%, while AC demand is likely to increase by 70%

> Baskin Robbins India is expecting strong double-digit growth this summer

> PepsiCo India has also strengthened its supply chain and expanded production

> Vijay Sales saw strong demand for ACs and refrigerators and expect both volume and value to increase by 5-8% this summer

> Rasna saw its demand rise by 30-40%, partly driven by increased consumption during Ramadan