Innovative launches amusing consumers and driving FMCG growth: Report

Innovation and consumer experimentation are driving FMCG growth in India, with out-of-home demand, premiumisation, and new launches fuelling both urban and rural adoption

Innovation is powering the growth in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment as new launches are finding many takers among curious consumers, especially in the out-of-home channel helping in volume recovery, says a new report by Worldpanel by Numerator (formerly Kantar).

 

Out-of-home volume growth in the overall FMCG category stood at 5 per cent for the three-month period of March, April and May. Foods grew 1.4 per cent and beverages grew 9 per cent.

 

Categories like bottled soft drinks, chocolates, and salty snacks witnessed a year-on-year uptick in sales, while only biscuits lagged.

 

A majority of this volume growth has been driven by new launches, pointing to an increased consumer appetite for innovation. There has been a 1.8-time increase in innovative launches in terms of moving annual traffic in May 2025.

 

Fusion flavours like ‘Korean chips’ or ‘jeera beverages’ are popular trends for companies to connect with consumers.

 

Expanding brand offerings to healthy options like millet biscuits and zero sugar drinks, and unique offerings like wafer biscuits are other ways to increase adoption for new products.

 

“When consumers step out, they are more experimentative and willing to try new flavours or products. The out-of-home adoption is faster than the in-home channel,” K Ramakrishnan, managing director South Asia at Worldpanel by Numerator, told Business Standard.

 

Not just in the out-of-home channel, products brought for home consumption, too, are starting to become more diverse.

 

The affluent classes, which make up 3 per cent of Indian households or ₹36,000 crore of FMCG value and the urban middle class, which accounts for 20 per cent of households are increasingly driven by convenience, newer formats, and premium products, hence driving growth of products like washing liquids, ready-to-cook mixes, chocolate spreads, instant coffee etc.

 

“Not just urban market, in rural too, there is an increased adoption of newer categories, often viewed as non-essential or non-staple,” Ramakrishnan said.

 

Products like fabric softeners, sauces and ketchups, and insecticides have seen penetration levels increasing to 20 per cent, 11 per cent and 76 per cent this year respectively, from 11 per cent, 4 per cent, and 63 per cent in 2021.

 

“These products are often skewed to the rural elites. But even products like instant noodles, juices and western snacks like potato chips, have seen increased consumption by the rural masses, growing to 64 per cent, 25 per cent, and 66 per cent in 2025 from 43 per cent, and 41 per cent in 2021,” Ramakrishnan added.

 

These products are not absolutely essential, but more discretionary in nature, pointing to the evolving nature of the consumer goods sector. 

Parle remains India’s most chosen in-home FMCG brand for 13th year

 

Biscuit maker Parle has retained its position as India’s top brand for in-home consumption for the 13th consecutive year, according to Worldpanel by Numerator’s annual Brand Footprint India 2025 report.

 

The report ranks the most chosen FMCG brands, both in-home and out-of-home, based on Consumer Reach Points (CRPs), which track purchases made by consumers and the frequency of those purchases in a calendar year.

 

Parle retained the pole position with 8,605 million CRPs, followed by Britannia, Amul, Clinic Plus, and Surf Excel. Ethnic snack maker Haldiram’s broke into the top 10 for the first time, rising from 19th in 2023.