MUMBAI: Parle Products, which retails brands including Parle G, Monaco, and Melody, saw growth taper off to 4% during FY23, halting its consistent double-digit growth over the last three years though it retained the country’s largest food company tag.

The biscuit maker posted net sales of Rs 17,223 crore while profit more-than-trebled to Rs 905 crore in the year ended March. A year ago, it had sales of Rs 16,490 crore and profit of Rs 255 crore, according to the company’s latest filing to the Registrar of Companies. In FY22, the 90-year-old company crossed $2 billion in annual revenues, becoming the first packaged food company in India to breach the mark with the eponymous glucose biscuit brand breaching the billion-dollar sales mark.

“Growth slowed down mainly due to inflationary pressure which forced us to hike prices in a staggered manner throughout the year. It also led to the overall biscuits market declining by volumes, especially in the first part of the fiscal. We also saw regional players springing up in the second half when input costs fell, full impact of which will be seen during the current fiscal,” said Mayank Shah, senior category head at Parle Products.

Over the past few years, especially during the pandemic, Parle’s value-for-money plank, especially for Parle G, has been crucial in growing the brand consistently over the years, more so during inflationary times when consumers cut spends and opt for smaller packs.

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However, the growth in FY23 was also impacted by rural slowdown as it gets about 60% of its sales from villages, a market that started declining last calendar year. Parle said in consumer price terms, the company clocked sales of nearly Rs 23,000 crore and should cross the $3 billion sales mark by next year.

Nearly three years ago, the company had outpaced rivals, including Britannia and Nestle, to become the country’s biggest food company by annual revenue. Britannia had revenues of ?15,618 crore while Nestle had sales of ?16,896 crore last fiscal.

To be sure, Parle’s biggest rival Britannia is the market leader by value in the biscuits category and has been gaining market share consecutively over the past few years. However, Parle leads in volume and sells about 1.2 million tonnes of biscuits annually.

According to Kantar, Parle Products have ranked in the top fast moving consumer brands in India over the past decade.

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