India favourite’s biscuit companies, Britannia and Parle, reported a surge in sales. Since India’s strictest lockdown ever imposed on March 25, citizens have started to bulk-buy numeral products. Unexpectedly, people are not only going crazy over cleaning products. Everyone’s favorite comfort food, biscuits, reportedly have soared as high.
Britannia to become one of the biscuit companies experiencing high sales
Forbes reported Baron’s experience a 26% higher revenue compared to last June’s quarter. Britannia Industries, as one of India’s largest biscuit makers, revealed a jump in net profit with 5,460 million rupees ($720 million). It is a 117% jump from last year’s achievement with 33,840 million rupees ($450 million). The massive demand emptied the company’s 11 to 12 days-worth inventory down to one day.
To cater to the increasing demand, Britannia decided to cut down advertising and promotion costs. They are also reducing warehousing space. Instead, they will focus on a better working capital management, Mumbai brokerage Edelweiss Securities research note says.
Biscuit companies big two on a competition: Britannia vs. Parle
Similarly, Parle reported a steep incline in their sales. The Economic Times India reported 90% of the sales are boosted by the selling of their glucose biscuit product, Parle-G. The company revealed an increase in market share during the lockdown. This record is one of the highest over the eight decades.
“We’ve grown our overall market share by nearly 5%… and 80-90% of this growth has come from the Parle-G sales. This is unprecedented,” as Mayank Shah, Senior Category Head of Parle Products, told The Economic Times India.
Compared to the ‘premium segment’, demand in Parle-G is significantly higher. Though productions are currently halted due to the lockdown, Parle Products is determined to focus on producing Parle-G once the situation gets better. The cheap and tasty combo easily becomes the reason Parle-G becomes everyone’s favorite.
Why biscuits?
Both Britannia and Parle biscuits are relatively cheap. With only 5 rupees, people can enjoy a nice pack of biscuits for afternoon tea, or even to fill the empty belly. It is uncommon for individuals, non-profit organizations (NGOs), and even state government to bulk buy these biscuits for themselves, or to distribute it to the poor during the lockdown.
