Emami to focus on rural expansion for growth

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Sep 30, 2021

Fast-moving consumer goods retailer Emami is holding a rural expansion drive this financial year to boost growth as the business continues to grapple with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The business aims to tap into increasing rural demand for branded FMCG products as part of its 2022 financial year growth strategy, the Economic Times reported. 
 
“We embarked on a focused rural expansion drive under Project Khoj through expansion of rural footprint in the top four potential rural contributing states in FY22,” said the business’ chairman R S Agarwal, at its annual general meeting for shareholders on September 29, the Press Trust of India reported. 

The first quarter of the current 2022 financial year saw continued challenges presented by the pandemic, Agarwal said. The local lockdowns which began in April this year affected sales in both urban and rural locations, he said. 
 
In order to recover from these challenges and promote growth moving forward, Emami will “aggressively” pursue growth in the rural market with distribution initiatives, Agarwal said.

One of the methods the business has already used to grow in non-metro locations was by digitising its rural sales force which it completed in the 2021 financial year. The business aims to continue this omni-channel approach moving forward.