Parle G reports its highest biscuit sales during lockdown months

One of India's dearest and oldest biscuit brand, Parle-G, achieved a unique feat of selling the most number of biscuits during this coronavirus lockdown. Although the biscuit maker Parle Products refused to share their specific sales statistics, they affirmed that during March, April, and May the company experienced their best months in terms of sales in their eight decades.

Media reports quoted Mayank Shah, category head at Parle Products, saying, "We’ve grown our overall market share by nearly 5%... And 80– 90% of this growth has come from Parle-G sales. This is unprecedented."

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Demand surge

The COVID-19-induced lockdown, still in place with easier rules, have seen demands for biscuits go up as people stacked up on easy and simple essential food items. Fairly priced biscuits also became an important snack for thousands of migrant workers walking back to their native towns.

A senior analyst in a rating agency noted that consumers were buying whatever was available - be it premium or economy-priced foodstuffs and some players may have focused more on premium value SKUs (stock keeping unit) as well. "Players had been focusing on enhancing distribution reach, especially in rural areas in the past 18-24 months; this worked well for them during the pandemic," the analyst added. 

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Company strategy

The company reportedly restocked its distribution channels within seven days to guarantee product availability at retail outlets during the COVID-19 lockdown phase. Mayank Shah said that during the lockdown, Parle-G became the comfort food for many; and for several others, it was the only food they had, in an apparent reference to migrants and the poor.

"This is a common man’s biscuit; people who cannot afford bread – buy Parle-G... We had several state governments requisitioning us for biscuits… they were in constant touch with us, asking about our stock positions. Several NGOs bought humongous quantities from us. We were lucky to have restarted production from March 25 onwards," he was quoted by media reports.

(With inputs from agencies)

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