Slowdown blues: In a slow-moving FMCG market, product prices are inching up

Already, the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market has been grappling with its slowest growth in six quarters for the October-December 2019 period, touching 6.6 per cent only

A slow-moving consumer goods market will have to contend with price hikes in the next few months as input cost pressures steadily increase. The first to see price hikes will be soaps, say executives at Godrej Consumer (GCPL) and Hindustan Unilever (HUL), two of the country’s top soap makers.

Sunil Kataria, GCPL’s chief executive officer for India and SAARC regions, said on Thursday the firm had taken a 5 per cent price hike in soaps recently and will look at more in the coming months.

“Inflationary pressures have been high within soaps,” he said. “One round of price hikes has just happened.