Biscuits to soaps, slowdown pain for FMCG companies comes in small packs

Adi Godrej and ITC Chairman Sanjiv Puri were in Delhi this month to meet Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of an outreach programme to tackle the slowdown

Some of India Inc’s biggest names point to a deeper malaise in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, led by a sustained slowdown in consumption. In the absence of triggers to boost confidence, they say, consumers are dramatically cutting back on spends, hitting sales of entry-level packs.

According to the Nielsen data sourced from the industry, the volume growth of categories where the contribution of small packs (Rs 5 and Rs 10 each) is high, such as foods, soaps and toothpastes, has declined year to date compared with the same period last year.
 

In biscuits, for instance, where small packs contribute