NEW DELHI: The Indian FMCG industry, which was significantly impacted during the lockdown, recovered sharply in June, driven by rural demand and a bounce back by traditional trade channels like kirana stores.
Although the country exhibited a delayed recovery pattern due to a long-and-strictly-enforced lockdown, sales are nearly back to pre-Covid levels in June, showed data from market research company Nielsen.
Categories fueled by cooking-at-home trends, including packaged atta and edible oils, hygiene-related products such as soaps and floor cleaners, and beauty products like deodorants and hair colour witnessed heightened demand from consumers, as India slowly started to unlock its cities.

Sales of toothpastes, shampoos and hair oils, which witnessed rationalisation during the lockdown, bounced back in June. The home-care category, too, comprising washing powder and detergent cakes, made a strong recovery.
A few categories like liquid soaps, chyawanprash, which are related to hygiene and immunity, witnessed unprecedented growth in June. Chyawanprash, which hardly grew in the combined period of December, January and February, showed a growth of 223% in June. Sales of liquid soaps and branded honey grew 112% and 39% respectively.
During January-May 2020, the Indian FMCG industry saw a negative growth of 8%, while the industry in China surged ahead with a growth of 5%.
In addition, a survey showed that consumers are staying away from discretionary spending. On the other hand, uncertainty and health concerns are prompting consumers to spend more on fitness and health, education and financial investments.