Nov 4, 2020
Mondelēz International has shown growth in India in this September quarter due to high demand for chocolates and biscuits and availability increased after lockdown restrictions eased out.
A quarter ago, it had declined double-digit especially in April and May due to lockdowns and store closures, but posted growth in June with a mid-single-digit expansion.
The growth recorded a high single-digit increase for the quarter driven by chocolate and significant biscuit growth, and the excellent execution of the team there. Chocolate returned to growth at more than 5 percent. This was aided in part by large chocolate businesses such as India and Brazil returning to robust growth.
For Mondelēz, India accounts for around $1 billion of revenue and has been one of its fastest-growing markets. Most packaged food companies including Mondelēz saw increased sales in biscuits as consumers filled their grocery carts before lockdown. But chocolates, an impulse product, were affected especially as it is partly skewed towards away-from-home consumption and convenience.
In emerging markets, good growth in 80 percent of the business units revenue base including in large businesses like India, China, Russia, and Brazil as operation restrictions eased, enabling better mobility and access to traditional trade.
The market share of flagship brand Cadbury Dairy Milk in India is one of the highest for Mondelēz globally. The company said chocolates came back in Q3 and accelerated largely because of strong growth in emerging markets like India. The company said temporary headwinds in emerging markets do not hamper the long-term prospects as they have advantaged network, deep distribution, and had good momentum pre-crisis.