FMCG stalwarts pin hopes on demand revival at CII National FMCG Summit

Amid concerns over sluggish rural demand and weakening consumer sentiment, many FMCG brands came together under one roof to felicitate an exchange of ideas and explore breakthrough strategies to steer FMCG growth at CII National FMCG Summit. With a theme “Growth Wapsi: Revving Up FMCG Growth”, industry stalwarts remained optimist for a turnaround despite weakening consumer sentiment and deliberated about growth strategies that can bring the FMCG industry back to double-digit growth.

Held at the Taj Land's End, Mumbai on Wednesday, the event began with a welcome address by Bharat Puri, Chairman, CII National Committee on FMCG and Managing Director, Pidilite Industries who highlighted the key role played by FMCG industry in economic development. “Since liberalization, the FMCG sector has made significant contributions to India’s growth story and the sector has persistently maintained robust double-digit growth rates. Contrary to this stellar record, a recent slowdown that is driven by broader macroeconomic factors coupled with tepid consumer sentiment is noticeably impacting rates,” he said.

Nikhil Prasad Ojha, Partner, Bain & Company shared an insightful presentation drawing attention to learnings from FMCG leaders like Unilever and Nestle that has beaten the slowdown in the past. “We are now seeing some green shoots. There is light at the end of the tunnel.  We expect the FMCG industry to regain stronger growth sometime in 2020,” said Nikhil.

Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India also graced the conference and emphasized on tapping new consumer segments, driving innovation and staying true to fundamentals of purpose, trust and value for a long-lasting business.  “Growth is an attitude, not a birthright. The mindset in my company is ‘leave the GDP worry to economists, our job is to see that growth happens every day.” Narayanan also pointed to the big changes that have impacted the sector: the rise of millennials, expanding digitization and the proliferation of choices for the consumer. Consumption trends have changed – it is more experiential, experimental, more health-conscious and more social and environmentally focused.

Other notable dignitaries who attended the conference and offered their rich insights included Deepak Iyer; President – India, Mondelez, Prasun Basu; President - South Asia, Nielsen, Ankur Jain; Founder and CEO, B9 Beverages, Richa Arora; Chief Operating Officer, Consumer Products Business, Tata Chemicals, Meghna Apparao; Chief Marketing Officer, Godrej Consumer Products, Anil Viswanathan; Director - Marketing (Chocolates), Mondelez India, Venkatesh Kini; Co-founder, Ubuntoo among others.