Bread, Cheese Sold Like Hot Cakes During Lockdown; Here's What People Bought Most & What They Snubbed

Even as the spending was impacted due to the lockdown, a majority of FMCG companies witness an interesting trend with certain products being on high demand during the period.

New Delhi: With the coronavirus spreading its wing across the world, India imposed a strict lockdown that lasted for almost two months in April and May leading to a change in our consumption pattern. Even as the spending was impacted due to the lockdown, a majority of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies witness an interesting trend with certain products being on high demand during the period.

According to the trend noticed by the FMCG companies, bread, cheese, coffee, and jams were the most sold products besides hand sanitisers, according to the report in the Indian Express. Most interestingly, consumers also purchased household insecticides.

Check out the trend in the items purchased during the lockdown period.

As per the report in the national daily, the Bengaluru-based Britannia Industries saw the maximum sale of bread, cheese, and rusk. However,  its fruity cakes, which is otherwise a high turnover product didn’t witness much traction because the cakes are mostly given to kids as school tiffin.

For India’s largest FMCG company Hindustan Unilever (HUL) it’s not a surprise because the company saw a sudden surge in the sale of Lifebuoy sanitisers and handwashes. Besides it also witnessed a sharp rise in Kissan jams and sauces in the April-June quarter.

The Kolkata-based FMCG firm ITC Ltd saw more demand for consumer staples, food and personal hygiene products from the time Covid-19 gain ground from mid-April onwards, while Gurgaon-based Nestle saw a jump in the sale of instant noodles and coffee, as per the report.

In its earnings call, Britannia’s managing director Varun Berry said: “…Bread and rusk grew very aggressively even faster than biscuits, even faster than our overall growth, and dairy, within dairy cheese growths were fantastic”.

He added that the growth in sales of bread was witnessed as those who were at stuck at home replaced the bread with meals. Berry stated: “…I think home consumption for bread is almost 100%, home consumption for rusk will be slightly higher than what it is for biscuits”.

Now, the most unexpected item for yet another FMCG company Godrej Consumer Products Ltd remained a spike in demand for household insecticides mostly because of high mosquito infestation in northern cities where people took precautions against the dengue or malaria in the wake of Covid-19.

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