In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Nestle India Managing Director Suresh Narayanan spoke of four consumer trends the industry has witnessed over the last three months since the nationwide lockdown was first imposed.

Share Market Live

NSE

"The first thing is there has been a very clear shift in favour of in-home consumption. So, all brands that have got a positive outlook on in-home consumption stand to gain," he said

"Number two is that there has been an increased emphasis on brands that are trustworthy, that are known for their quality, known for their safety, and also known for better nutrition. I think those brands also are doing well," he said.

"Because of unemployment, job losses, wage cuts, etc. there is a distinct trend of downgrading (consumers opting for the cheaper alternative). So, that is the third trend. Still, people are having their indulgences; I think the premium brands are still doing relatively well," he said.

"Finally, digital information seeking has been far higher than what has happened. In this context, I think as a company we have had a surge in demand for some of our categories. Milk and nutrition especially has done extremely well. In Maggi noodles, there was almost a 20-25 percent surge that suddenly happened and obviously we were scurrying to try and meet the demand. So, across categories – coffee has been doing well. So, by and large our categories have held up during this pandemic," he said.

Narayanan said that the demand in rural areas and second and third tier cities has been quite strong.

"One of the things that we are noticing in the last ten quarters has been an acceleration of demand especially in the tier-II, tier-III, tier-IV towns and also in the rural markets," Narayanan said.

"That is an encouraging sign because rural consumers also are looking at good brands, at good quality, good safety, and good nutrition as far as their families are concerned. As the market access improves through the pandemic, I think our own pace of accelerating growth in the smaller towns will also improve.

First Published:Jun 30, 2020 7:25 PM IST