Marico expects to see improvement in rural consumption in FY24

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
May 9, 2023

Fast moving consumer goods business and personal care specialist Marico expects to see an improvement in rural consumption in the coming months. The 2023 financial year saw challenges exacerbated by global issues but, with inflation easing, the business expects to see progress in the 2024 financial year. 

“Some of the change events that have happened in rural areas is number one, food inflation is under control,” Marico’s CEO and managing director Saugata Gupta told ET Now in an interview. “Some of the input costs have gone down. Therefore, we have passed on some of the benefits to consumers. For example, we have done that in Parachute and we have taken price drops.”
 
Parachute hair oil is one of Marico’s core products. The business retails numerous haircare and skincare brands in the value segment of the market. 

“The improvement will be gradual,” said Gupta. “We need to wait and see what happens with the monsoon but there will certainly be improvement.”
 
Gupta expects this financial year’s volume growth to be better than last fiscal’s, which was at between 4% and 5% but stresses the need to wait and see before setting specific targets. The business also expects input costs to be more favourable this year and is looking towards profitability in its foods and digital businesses.