Demand during lockdown unprecedented, may not sustain, says Parle

The demand for Parle products during the lockdown was unprecedented and it may not be sustainable for long, said Mayank Shah, senior category head, Parle Products on Wednesday. He, however, added that the post-lockdown demand will be better than the pre-COVID period's.

“This demand in the last two months has been unprecedented and probably that level of the demand may not sustain but if we look at the volumes that were coming in prior to lockdown, it will settle at a higher level," said Shah in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Parle has recorded its highest ever sales for the iconic Parle-G biscuits during the lockdown owing to a surge in demand by NGOs, state governments and private institutions for distribution to migrant workers.

Not just Parle-G, all other products have done well during the lockdown, said Shah.

“While we have done record sales, it is not just Parle-G, all the products pitched in. We saw good traction and very good growth coming in from premium products. Company has grown by almost about twice as high as the total growth of the market in the past two months,” Shah said.

“We have been able to increase our market share by almost 450-500 basis points (bps) in the last two months,” he added.

The company has seen strong resurgence of demand from rural India in the last two months. Migrant labourers returning to rural areas may have been one of the reasons behind the growth in demand, he said.

Shah added that the company is working at about 80-85 percent of capacity.