Nestle India expects the fast-moving consumer goods market to continue growing this year because the “consumption story in India” is more positive than elsewhere, but not as fast as expected before as the economy is facing a slowdown, its chairman said. “Unlike some other sectors such as auto, we don’t see the FMCG sector going into the negative territory. It will still grow, may be not in double digits but in high single digits,” Suresh Narayanan said. Narayanan said while the FMCG sector was growing at 16-17% in the third quarter of 2018, it had slowed down to 10% now, and that growth expectations for the year would be one-to-two percentage points lower than the original targets. Last month, market research firm Nielsen revised its growth forecast for the FMCG sector to 9-10% in 2019 from its previous outlook of 11-12%, citing a sharp rural slowdown as well as weak demand across all food and non-food categories from salty snacks and biscuits to soaps and packaged tea. If the industry gets its operational efficiencies on track and combined with renovation and innovation, it will be able to counter the economic slowdown.

(Economic Times)