FMCG value growth in the March quarter (Q4FY26) was down to a fourth (3.6%) versus the year-ago period (12.4%), driven by geopolitical concerns, Bizom data shared exclusively with FE shows. The slowdown comes as consumers turned cautious due to the war in West Asia, focusing on essentials such as food versus discretionary spending, which was muted.
The month of March, in particular, saw a decline of 0.4% in value growth versus January and February which reported positive value growth of 5.7% and 5.5% each, Bizom said. The retail sales platform, which tracks FMCG categories in 8 million outlets, does not report volume growth.
For the full year of FY26, FMCG value growth slowed to levels of 6%, versus 9.5% seen in FY25. Apart from geopolitical concerns, issues such as an urban slowdown in the first half of FY26, followed by GST-led price cuts and trade challenges in the months of September, October and November contributed to the slowdown, Harshit Bora, analytics head, Bizom, said.
“The year of FY26 was mixed. Consumers were dealing with a number of factors from trade and tariff-related concerns to geopolitical issues. While fiscal and monetary policy measures were taken in addition to GST 2.0 reforms, FMCG value growth took a hit during the year,” Bora said.
Rural-Urban Divide
While rural value growth continued to outpace urban value growth in both the March quarter and full year of FY26, the pace has slowed when compared to FY25. The month of March was particularly weak, reporting a decline of 2.5% in urban areas. Rural areas reported a flat growth of 0.9% for the month. Overall, urban value growth stood at 1.2% versus a rural value growth of 5% in Q4 of FY26. A year ago, urban value growth stood at 10.3% versus rural value growth of 13.8%, Bizom said.
On an annual basis, FMCG value growth in urban areas stood at 4.9% to rural value growth of 6.7% reported in FY26. While in FY25, urban value growth was 7.3% to rural value growth of 11%.
Diverging Demands
Among categories, segments such as packaged food, dairy products, branded commodities and beverages saw good sales traction, reporting value growth between 7-10%. Discretionary categories such as home care reported a decline of 2.7% and personal care was flat (0.1%), Bizom said.
For the full year of FY26, home care reported a decline of 0.9%, while personal care saw value growth of 4.7%. Branded commodities and dairy products reported a value growth of 12.6% and 12% each, while packaged food saw a value growth of 7.1% during the year.