PepsiCo India expects its food business to match last year’s festive growth momentum driven by new product rollouts and convenience-focused choices that match modern consumer habits, a top company official said on Tuesday.
The company is expanding its portfolio across snacks, ‘better-for-you’ products and premium offerings to cater to diverse consumer preferences during the festive season, said Saakshi Verma Menon, Chief Marketing Officer Foods at PepsiCo India.
“We expect PepsiCo Foods to deliver a growth trajectory similar to last year during the festive season, growing in line with the industry,” Menon told PTI.
The company has recently strengthened its ready-to-eat offerings on e-commerce platforms to make festive snacking more convenient.
PepsiCo’s product strategy in the food business is aimed at addressing evolving Indian taste preferences and different consumption occasions, with its research and development teams working on new offerings for the market.
“Together with our much-loved core brands, these offerings allow us to cater to a wider spectrum of tastes and occasions, while continuing to bring smiles with festive snacking,” Menon said.
Meanwhile, SLMG Beverages, India’s largest bottler of Coca-Cola, said it is witnessing high double-digit growth during the ongoing festive season, with sales picking up since Navratri and strong orders for Diwali gift packs.
“We have already seen a spurt in our sales. And we are sitting with a lot of gift pack orders and all the packages which we have launched for Diwali,” said its Joint Managing Director Paritosh Ladhani in an interview.
He expects demand to remain strong through the festive period, with November and December being important months for the beverage business as consumers celebrate Diwali, Christmas and New Year.
SLMG Beverages has also been navigating higher input costs, including sugar and packaging materials, but is adopting a wait-and-watch approach before taking further pricing decisions, Ladhani said in the interview.
The company said it is prioritising consumer affordability while seeking to offset commodity cost pressures through growth in sales volumes.
The FMCG sector is facing sustained margin pressure as rising input costs squeeze profitability.
Input-cost pressures intensified in the September quarter, reversing some of the moderation seen in the preceding quarter.
Companies absorbed part of the increase to protect demand during the festive season, even as higher costs of crude-linked derivatives, packaging materials, palm oil and sugar weighed on margins.
With commodity costs remaining elevated, FMCG makers are likely to consider calibrated price increases after Diwali, while balancing the need to restore profitability against the risk of lower sales volumes.