Why Parle-G, other biscuit brands' sales shot through the roof during lockdown

The embattled Indian biscuit industry is on a roll with companies logging booming sales during the coronavirus-induced lockdown on account of migrant labourers, NGOs, and buyers rushing to stockpile the packaged staple.

Popular and widely available biscuit brand Parle-G clocked its highest ever sales in eight decades in March, April, and May, 2020.

ITC which sells the cookies under the Sunfeast brand said that its sales figures have been unprecedented during the lockdown period. The company, however, did not divulge much regarding the sales figures it recorded.

Also Read: Coronavirus effect: Parle-G clocks best sales in 8 decades; maker's market share increases by 5%

Mayank Shah, Senior Category Head of Parle Products told PTI that their overall market share of the company has increased by 5 per cent. "The growth was phenomenal and as a result Parle was able to increase its market share by 4.5 to 5% during the lockdown...This is one of the highest in the recent (time). At least in the last 30 to 40 years, we have not seen this kind of growth" he said, adding that in his 20 years of working with the biscuits major, he hadn't witnessed a performance like this.

However, not only Parle-G but other biscuit brands across price points such as Britannia's Good Day, Tiger, Bourbon, Marie, Milk Bikis, as well as Parle's Monaco, Hide & Seek and Krackjack have all witnessed high sales amid the lockdown.

Parle-G biscuits also gained traction as they were preferred by government agencies and NGOs working to distribute food relief packages to people during the pandemic, Shah said. He added that this was because the company sold the value packs for as cheap as Rs 2 besides being considered a good source of glucose.

He said that Parle-G was comfort food for most Indians and that during times of uncertainty, it was consumed a lot. Even during earlier crises like tsunamis and earthquakes, sales of Parle-G biscuits had gone up, Shah added.

Also Read: Coronavirus: Is Indian FMCG, retail industry heading towards a supply-chain reinvention?

"That is the kind of trust people depose in the brand," he said, adding Parle-G's long shelf life is another reason for the preference.

Shah claimed that Parle had "the highest growth rate among all the biscuit companies" during the lockdown.

Parle Products makes its biscuits in 130 factories across the country, out of which 120 are contract manufacturing units.