FMCG divide: Who's sticking to brands, and who's ditching?

In rural areas, brands sold by large listed cos grew at a strong 5.1%, the rest of the branded market at 4%

- Suneera Tandon

Unbranded packaged consumer goods are finding more takers in cities while the countryside takes a fancy to branded goods, a Kantar study found. Sales volumes of unbranded fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) makers grew 6.1% in FY25 against a 5.1% growth at branded goods makers. Drilling deeper, the research firm found that in urban areas, unbranded products' sales jumped 8.4%, outperforming those sold by large listed companies (2.1%) and other branded segments (3.8%). Meanwhile, in villages, brands sold by large listed companies grew at a strong 5.1%, the rest of the branded market at 4%, and the unbranded segment grew by just 2.3%.

Kantar tracked volumes of the top 22 listed companies, along with unbranded and other goods.