India’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market is becoming increasingly challenging for smaller brands, as established players continue to strengthen their consumer reach and purchase frequency.
According to Worldpanel by Numerator’s Brand Footprint India 2026 report, only 56% of low-penetration brands expanded their consumer reach in 2025. This compares with 83% of highly penetrated brands and 78% of mid-sized brands.
The findings suggest that scale is becoming increasingly important in India’s FMCG sector, with larger and mid-sized brands better positioned to convert consumer visibility into repeat purchases.
Overall, consumer reach points (CRPs), which measure both the number of households buying a brand and purchase frequency, increased 5.1% to 129 billion in 2025, up from 123 billion in 2024. However, growth varied across categories, with beverages, home care, and health and beauty recording stronger gains, while food and dairy grew more slowly.
“Large and mid-sized brands saw strong consumer reach points growth, but only about half of smaller brands managed to grow theirs at all,” said K Ramakrishnan, managing director, South Asia, Worldpanel by Numerator.
Despite the challenges, several challenger and regional brands continued to gain ground. Balaji entered the top 10 in-home FMCG brands for the first time, rising to ninth place with 2,876 million CRPs. Rin returned to the top 25 after a two-year gap, while Sunrise and Exo climbed eight and 11 positions, respectively.
Purchase frequency is also emerging as an important growth lever. Dairy brands, despite relatively low household penetration, are generating higher consumer reach because of the frequency with which households purchase them.
At the top of the in-home rankings, Parle retained the No. 1 position for the 14th consecutive year with 8,515 million CRPs, followed by Britannia at 8,296 million. Britannia also maintained its leadership in out-of-home consumption, while Amul entered the top five OOH brands for the first time.
The Brand Footprint India 2026 report covers 427 FMCG brands across food, beverages, dairy, health and beauty, and home care. Its in-home panel tracks consumers across urban and rural India and different affluence groups.