May 8, 2020
Many branded products of falooda mixes, custard powder, Sharbat, Bombay halwa, Phirni and various instant masalas mix, Ready-to-Eat and Ready-to-Cook stuffs were the hot cakes during the month of Ramazan which drew a significant bulk of their sales. But this time, sales of these products are only half of what was clocked in the same period last year heavily affecting small scale industries and small entrepreneurs.
An unresponsive demand this Ramazan due to the lockdown is proving to be a no sales and marketing opportunities for several packaged foods companies in India.
Sahil Gilani, , Director (sales & Marketing) of Gits Food Products, said some of the company’s dessert instant mixes such as falooda, kheer, phirni and Bombay halwa do over 50% of their annual sales during Ramazan. Additionally, the Gits gulab jamun mix sees a monthly surge of 25% in specific regions during this season.
“While the demand remained high, we unfortunately weren’t able to push the products into the market due to major supply chain disruptions on account of the lockdown,” said Gilani. “Gits Gulab Jamun mix had a higher pipeline stock as it’s a big seller all year round, so we managed growth on that,” added Gilani.
Ramazan time, which is usually coinciding with the summer season, 50% of Rasna’s drink mixes were consumed outdoors. “It’s made and sold on the streets. That’s certainly a lost opportunity for us,” said Rasna CMD Piruz Khambatta.
Mother’s Recipe (Desai Foods) executive director Sanjana Desai said the company catches good sales from the paste category viz…ginger-garlic paste(combined), garlic and ginger pastes in the domestic market during Ramazan. “In fact, the bigger SKUs (stock-keeping units), that is 300gm and above, usually witness huge demand and an exponential sales jump. Even products such as seviyan kheer (payasam), an instant mix product, would be in high demand along with garlic pickle and sweet pickle,” said Desai.
According to Desai, apart from a surge in demand across food products like pickle, papad and pastes, they were anticipating strong increase in business this year from the newly introduced range of chutneys during this festive season. “But unfortunately, there were issues with supply and fulfilment of the orders during the lockdown,” said Desai.
Even in the international markets, its Madras Curry Powder, accompanied by ginger-garlic paste and garlic paste, sees huge demand. “Every year we see the sales projections of these products rise between 50% and 100% during Ramazan,” said Desai. “Much of the company’s consumption would have increased due to the large-scale sampling that it used to do in areas with huge gatherings during the Ramazan period. None of this is now possible”.
“At present, sales are coming from filling the general shortages of essential food items and through hyper local delivery and other sources of supply that we have created to service the markets to ensure our products are available to our consumers,” said Desai. The industry is now pinning all its hopes on the festive seasons that will commence from August onwards and extend up to Diwali aiding to make up for the lost opportunities in Ramazan.