Pandemic brings in major shift in consumer demand: Britannia

New Delhi: The pandemic has brought significant shifts in consumer preferences and behaviours, including the growth of online business channels, which are likely to strengthen and present new opportunities for food business in future, according to Britannia Industries.

The company is well placed to sustain growth and is confident of addressing the evolving situation with its wide distribution network, intrinsic brand strengths, innovation and technology capabilities and cost efficiency programmes, it said in its latest annual report.

"Significant shifts in consumer preferences and behaviours, growth of online business channels and higher demand for staples and value products are some of the changes brought about by the pandemic. These trends are likely to strengthen and present new opportunities for the food business in future," the company said.

According to Britannia, it foresees opportunities to scale up its dairy business by leveraging product innovation and accelerating the growth of value-added products into the segment.

The company is going for expansion of distribution for the dairy portfolio, growth of e-commerce and digital subscription platforms and culinary experimentation at home with categories like cheese due to the lockdown.

In the segment, Britannia sees quality milk procurement and infrastructure improvement, including cold chain, as the primary growth challenges.

"To address these challenges, your company has been continuously investing in farmer connect programmes, scaling up milk procurement capabilities, ensuring consistency in quality of raw material and strengthening cold chain distribution," it said.

While talking about the biscuit segment, Britannia said India continues to provide significant opportunities for growth as the per capita consumption is much lower than that of developed countries.