Amid rising inflation concerns, climate volatility and shifting consumer behaviour, Tata Consumer Products is leaning harder into quick commerce, premiumisation and health-focused innovation to sustain growth. The company, which owns brands such as Tata Salt and Tetley, says newer channels and products are helping it stay aligned with changing consumption trends even as the broader macro environment turns uncertain. In an interview with Viveat Susan Pinto on Monday, a day when the stock jumped over 6.6% to its highest in over two years, Tata Consumer Products MD & CEO Sunil D’Souza spells out his priorities. Excerpts:
How are you approaching topline growth amid global and domestic uncertainties in FY27?
We operate in the food and beverage business, which is essential to a consumer’s grocery basket. While food and beverages will see the least amount of headwinds, they will also see the least amount of tailwinds. We are conscious of that. However, we remain confident of delivering double-digit topline growth in FY27.
To ensure that, we are going back to basics. FMCG is about three things—product and branding, innovation, and distribution. Our brands continue to enjoy high recall. Tata Salt’s top-of-mind awareness, for instance, has moved from 82% to 88% in the last few years. Other Tata Consumer brands too have shown strong recall levels in recent studies conducted by us.
In distribution, we are where the consumer is. Modern trade contributes 15% and is growing at around 20% year-on-year, while quick commerce and e-commerce have grown to 21% of the portfolio versus 15% a year ago. Offline distribution has expanded to 4.5 million outlets, of which direct reach stands at 2 million outlets.
Innovation is also scaling up quickly. We doubled our launches, from 40 in FY25 to 80 in FY26. Our innovation-to-sales ratio now stands at 4.5%, with revenue from innovations growing seven times faster than total topline growth.
Inflationary pressures are only growing. Isn’t this affecting demand? Your thoughts.
As of now, we have not seen any visible impact on consumer demand. Our India branded business delivered 16% underlying volume growth in Q4 (FY26). There is some inflation in packaging material, but nothing alarming yet. If fuel prices rise and inflation broadens, then we may take calibrated price increases. The good part is that we are confident in the strength of our brands and our pricing power.
What is your outlook for FY27? And is downtrading a concern for companies operating in staples?
It is going to be a volatile year—due to geopolitics, weather patterns, inflation and shifts in consumer behaviour. Building resilience and agility will be critical in FY27. Over the years, we have built those capabilities within Tata Consumer, and that gives us confidence as we move ahead.
As far as downtrading is concerned, we have a portfolio across price points. In salt, for example, we play from entry-level products to premium offerings like low-sodium salt and fortified variants. So whether consumers downtrade or premiumise, we remain confident they will stay within our portfolio.
Will you pause acquisitions in FY27 given the volatility?
We have not paused acquisitions. The issue is that what we like is often not for sale, and what is on sale we may not necessarily like.
We are clear about our strategic direction and continue to evaluate opportunities that create both strategic and financial value. We are currently sitting on roughly Rs 3,000 crore in cash, so we have adequate firepower when it comes to acquisitions.
Which categories are seeing the strongest traction in terms of innovation?
Noodles (Ching’s Secret) and premium water (like Tata Copper Plus) are growing at 23–25% year-on-year. Dry fruits and cold-pressed oils are growing at 150–200% year-on-year. These are now meaningful businesses with annual revenue run rates of Rs 300–400 crore. We are also moving towards more disruptive innovation — products like easy-to-roll millet flour, easy-to-cook pulses, functional water and healthier snacking options.
Across the portfolio, health and wellness is becoming a strong focus area. Whether it is makhana (fox nuts), edamame (young soybean) protein snacks, green teas or healthier staples, we see significant long-term opportunity in these segments.
How significant is quick commerce for Tata Consumer today?
Quick commerce is becoming important not just from a premiumisation lens, but also from an innovation perspective. It allows us to speak directly to consumers without intermediaries.
We were among the early movers in quick commerce and have built dedicated teams, systems and supply chains around it. We have learned which pack sizes work, what pricing works and how consumers behave on these platforms.