Packaged food companies and retailers said they are witnessing an uptick in sales in categories such as instant meals, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products among others as consumers stay and work from home during the ongoing third wave especially in top cities. Although, players pointed out that consumers are not pantry loading in the same manner as seen in the first wave but in-home consumption trends have gained momentum.

Arvind Mediratta, MD & CEO, Metro Cash & Carry said, “Due to Covid restrictions and work from home, we are witnessing surge in consumption in categories like instant meals that is growing by 15 per cent, this includes instant noodles and meals and powered drinks. Another significant peak is seen in honey, which is growing by 26 per cent. Apple cider vinegar has seen an uptick in demand with growth of 15 per cent. Soups continue to grow at 55 per cent primarily due to winter season. We have also seen a surge in consumption in categories such as coffee, biscuits and confectionary candies.”

Ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products are also witnessing an upswing as consumers’ focus on homemade meals during the third wave. Rahul Gandhi, Chief Marketing Officer, iD Fresh Food said, “We have seen a surge in sales by about 15 per cent in January for idli and dosa batter products as consumers prefer to eat homemade and healthy meals amidst rising Covid cases. It’s difficult to grind batter at home, day in, day out especially in large quantities for the entire family as they stay and work from home and seek convenience.”

“We have witnessed a spike in all of our distribution channels for Prasuma Momos in the third-wave of the pandemic. Online platforms have seen a larger margin of growth of about 25-30 percent over the previous month,” added Lisa Suwal, Chief Growth Officer, Prasuma.

Rise in sales

A spokesperson for ITC too said that in light of the recent Covid wave, it has witnessed an overall uptick of 5-6 per cent compared to the usual levels. The company is also seeing larger spike in sales in e-commerce and modern trade channels. It expects this spike in sales to continue for some time depending on the severity of the pandemic and the local mobility restrictions.

Products such as biscuits are also witnessing a surge in January. Abneesh Roy, Executive Vice-President, Institutional Equities at Edelweiss Securities noted that the biscuits category which was seeing single digit sales growth in the third quarter of this fiscal year is growing in double digits in January.

Amrinder Singh, Director, Bonn Group of Industries added that the company is indeed witnessing an uptick in demand for breads and biscuits due to rising in-home consumption.

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