The acquired digital-first brands sitting inside India’s biggest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are no longer experiments — they are fast becoming growth engines. Their combined annual revenue crossed Rs 4,500 crore in FY26, as premium beauty, wellness and functional foods continued to outpace traditional categories.
Built largely through acquisitions over the past few years, these portfolios are expanding at more than 20% annually and now account for an increasingly material share of legacy players’ topline growth.
Marico leads the pack. Its digital-first stable — Beardo, Plix, True Elements, Just Herbs, Cosmix and 4700BC — has crossed an annual revenue run rate (ARR) of Rs 1,500 crore, contributing over 11% of consolidated revenue. Hindustan Unilever (HUL) follows closely: its premium digital beauty portfolio, led by Minimalist, OZiva, Simple and Nexxus, reached an ARR of around Rs 1,400 crore in FY26. ITC’s future-ready brands, including Yoga Bar and Mother Sparsh, exceeded Rs 1,350 crore.
The smaller players are scaling with intent. Emami’s digital and strategic investment portfolio contributes around 6% of consolidated revenue — nearly Rs 226 crore on FY26 revenue of Rs 3,780 crore — and the company wants that share at about 25% by FY30. Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) is nurturing early-stage digital assets such as Muuchstac, which generates Rs 80-90 crore annually, alongside newer premium brands.
The numbers point to a broader transformation underway in Indian FMCG, where incumbents are using acquisitions to buy their way into premium, wellness-oriented and digitally discovered consumer segments.
Leadership Playbook
“We have the foundations of two strong digital platforms. One in beauty and personal care and another in foods. Both platforms offer significant growth opportunities,” Marico Managing Director & CEO Saugata Gupta told FE this week, adding that the strategy is anchored in building scalable and profitable businesses in categories with a long runway for growth.
HUL has run a similar playbook, deploying over Rs 3,500 crore on bolt-on acquisitions and premium platforms during FY26, with heavy investment behind Minimalist and OZiva. In a recent media interaction, CEO & MD Priya Nair said the company’s future strategy would centre on sharper consumer segmentation, brand-building, innovation and more digital-first brands, as it targets a younger, modern and desirable product portfolio.
Emami has outlined perhaps the most aggressive acquisition roadmap among peers. “Our consistent profitability, cash generation and debt-free balance sheet give us the flexibility to pursue promising new-age consumer businesses,” Vice Chairman and Managing Director Harsha V. Agarwal said in the company’s FY26 annual report. The Kolkata-based company has set up a dedicated new-age business vertical to identify and acquire founder-led brands across wellness, functional beverages and personalised beauty. Recent buys include Axiom Ayurveda and a majority stake in IncNut Digital, owner of Vedix and SkinKraft.
ITC, too, sees premiumisation and shifting consumer preferences as structural opportunities. “Today’s maximiser consumer simultaneously seeks taste and nutrition, convenience and trust, value as well as premium experiences,” Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Puri said at the company’s 115th annual general meeting last month, noting that India’s consumption landscape was being reshaped by rising aspirations, health-conscious consumers and digital commerce — and that ITC was building a portfolio of future-ready brands to serve these evolving needs.
Analyst Perspective
Analysts say the buying has grown more disciplined after the first wave of cash-burning D2C investments. “Three years ago, companies were buying growth. Today, they’re buying profitable premium brands that can be scaled quickly through their distribution networks,” said Abneesh Roy, executive director, Nuvama Institutional Equities.
Karan Taurani, executive vice-president at Elara Capital, said digital-first brands give incumbents access to faster-growing consumption segments without disrupting their core portfolios. “Categories such as wellness, premium personal care and functional foods are growing faster than mass FMCG and benefit from digital discovery and quick commerce,” he said.
For India’s FMCG majors, the message is clear: digital-first businesses have graduated from experimental bets to a strategic pillar — driving premiumisation, accelerating innovation and delivering a larger share of incremental growth than the legacy portfolios that funded them.