Inflation fails to dampen Diwali snacking as gifts pack a punch

MUMBAI: Consumers loosened their purse strings for Diwali snacking and gifting, helped in parts by companies curating affordable gift packs and food hampers despite inflation playing a bit of a spoilsport.
Dry fruits, ice-creams, juices, kaju barfis and soan papdis made their way to households geared up to celebrate Diwali. “Inflation has made consumers a bit cautious but the festive spirit is still very much alive. While urban shoppers are becoming more mindful of their budgets, rural areas are showing consistent demand. People are prioritising their festive purchases, focusing on getting the most value. This balance is helping keep the momentum going across different markets,” Manish Aggarwal, director, Bikano at Bikanervala Foods, told TOI, adding that the festive sales should wrap up well with demand being 25-30% higher over last year.
Naturals Ice cream is on track to achieve its targeted 40% growth over last Diwali’s sales despite taking a 7% price hike. Sales of family packs are on the rise and with festivities extending through the weekend in several parts of the country (many are celebrating Diwali on both Oct 31 and Nov 1), the company expects more people to step into its stores. “Due to global shortages and low cocoa bean harvests from Africa, we have experienced a price surge and severe shortage, leading to higher costs,” said director Siddhant Kamath. To get more customers to spend, the company is promoting online combo packs with offers, encouraging consumers to order in bulk and have them delivered to their guests.

Dabur has priced its gift packs offering Real juices between Rs 100-550 to get more people to shop. Food takes centre stage in most Indian festivities and on Diwali, people love to spend on snacking besides sharing gift baskets with family and friends with sweets and savoury items making to the top of the list. “We believe urban consumption slump has bottomed out and we should see improvement going forward. With the ongoing festival season, we are definitely seeing improvements in demand trends. We also expect further improvement in rural consumer sentiments going forward given the bumper Kharif crop yield and higher MSP announced by the government for the Rabi crop, both of which should lead to improved income for farmers,” said Mohit Malhotra, CEO at Dabur India.
Parle Products expects the festive season sales to either close with a marginal growth over last year or at par with the levels seen last year. Commodity inflation being restricted to a few items like oil and wheat has allowed consumers to make adjustments to their festive gift packs keeping in line with their budgets and since food commands a high share of the Diwali consumption basket, consumers are not shying away from spending, said senior category head Krishnarao Buddha. Parle’s premium offerings have fared well even though broader urban consumption has been a bit constrained. “Going ahead, festivals like Chhath Puja are expected to keep the momentum intact,” Buddha said.
Food and snacking brand True Elements said that there is a higher demand for its premium packs on quick commerce platforms while low value packs are selling more on e-commerce marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon. The company which claimed that it has not seen any signs of stress in consumer spending has also introduced a sub Rs 300 price gift hamper to enable more consumers to buy gift packs. “We are not seeing any muted demand in the regions where we operate. The only slowdown is in non-festive, healthy products, which face this seasonal dip every year,” said co-founder and COO Sreejith Moolayil.
Beverage startup Swizzle has recorded a 25% increase in sales over the last month as consumers look to experiment with new alternatives like ‘ready to drink’ mocktails which the brand sells, said co-founder Vrinda Singhal.