Extra disposable income will spur discretionary demand first: Sunil D’Souza

In cities, inflation was higher than actual wage growth. Food expansion is important, with food inflation headlines in October in nearly double digits. It reached 9% in November and 8% in December. The actual variable is food inflation, and as it drops, we see a relaxation of pressure on the city side. Looking at sales and general trade, rural areas are stronger at double digit growth, while cities are at single digit less. However, the two channels operate primarily in urban areas – modern trade and e-commerce. Adding modern trade and e-commerce also brings growth to nearly double digits. The slowdown in urban areas as calculated has a lot to do with Kirana stores, but for the past 18 to 24 months, Quick Commerce has been born on the horizon. The slowdown will be moderated, and strong growth rates will increase in urban areas.

The budget addresses rural and urban segments. Schemes that create infrastructure with rural areas and extra disposable income drive demand. My theory is that discretionary spending, such as new TVs, scooters, vehicles, etc., will be the first before consumers buy more premium products.

Indian consumers continue to value convenience, health and wellness. Consumers are moving into the digital world, whether it’s media consumption or shopping experience. We will see that urban demand will return and the overall demand will revive in the economy as the increase provided by extra disposable income in the hands of consumers.

We say Capital Food and Organic India is part of our growth portfolio, with the growth portfolio accounting for 30% of our business. At Capital Foods, consumers understand categories was something they learned while setting up a distribution network in Organic India. Supplements are completely different ball games. Brand distribution. Go ahead and there’s a huge acceleration in overall growth for both brands. We leveraged the Capital Foots Distribution Network to expand our business in the international market. Our business, which sells TATATEA, TATA SALT, TATA SAMPANN and more, is jumping. When you enter other international markets, you will not be focused on distribution partnerships through the traditional entry that there is a full-scale sales force.

December has left with a 39% volume growth. We have mainly taken corrective actions to pricing. We have corrected the retailer margins to make sure that Tata Gluco Plus is competitive in the market and therefore landed in a good place.

We touched 1,00,000 outlets and put some data and analytics systems in and discovered the problem. We have significantly upgraded our frontline features and reach the summer season with a highly competitive distribution system and product portfolio.

Ecommerce currently accounts for 15% of the company’s sales that are larger than my modern trade sales, and a major factor is driven by the fact that Quick Commerce currently accounts for 50% of ecommerce . Additionally, modern trade has increased by around 14% for the company. Consumers are moving from traditional trade to modern trade and e-commerce. Not all consumer behavior is driven by pricing and discounts, and much is driven by the pure convenience offered by Quick Commerce players.

At Starbucks, we focus on long-term opportunities. In the short term, we see traffic pressure and therefore pressure on sales growth for the same store, with the pressure lying across the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) segment. The hypothesis is the same theory of inflation, so pockets are narrowed and consumers spend it. As inflation drops and budget consumption increases, we expect to see a faster comeback in discretionary spending as confidence returns to urban markets. We have a deeper presence in India and have opened stores in Bhopal, Indore, Cochin, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati. We exist in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and find a good response, if not a better response to city brands and sales than the metro.

Tea prices for fourth quarter remain unchanged as stops picked in December will cease and next picking will cease around March and April. Because there is no output in the quarter, the price remains intact as we already have quarterly inventory. Assuming the crop is normal, when new crops come in, the price will tapere off and the margin will return to normal. It covered 40% of the price hike, but not everything went into P&L as it was taken at different points during the quarter. Take the price increase calibrated to ease the margin. This is done in a way that the product remains strong and competitive, and does not lose market share due to pricing. The margin is normalized between the first quarter and Q2 of FY26.