COVID-19: Parle-G logged record sales amid lockdown

Leading food company Parle Products logged record sales of its Parle-G biscuits in April and May during the lockdown, said a senior company official.

The company has gained a market share of around 5% in the highly competitive biscuit segment, helped by Parle-G biscuits, preferred by the people stocking up their pantries during the pandemic.

Parle-G biscuits also gained traction as it was preferred by government agencies and NGOs working to distribute food relief packages to people during the pandemic owing to its economic proposition with value package of ₹2 besides being considered a good source of glucose, Parle Products senior category head Mayank Shah told PTI.

"The growth was phenomenal and as a result Parle was able to increase its market share by 4.5 to 5% during the lockdown," he added.

"This is one of the highest in the recent (time). At least in last 30 to 40 years, we have not seen this kind of growth," Mr. Shah said adding in his 20 years of working with the biscuits major, he hadn't witnessed a performance like this.

Mr. Shah said Parle-G was comfort food for most Indians and that during times of uncertainty, it was consumed a lot. Even during earlier crises like tsunami and earthquakes, sales of Parle-G biscuits had gone up, he added.

"That is the kind of trust people depose in the brand," he said, adding Parle-G's long shelf life as another reason for the preference.

The company had announced that it would donate three crore packs of Parle-G biscuits when the coronavirus pandemic intensified in India.

"We saw many other people doing that. There were many other organisations, which were also helping people by distributing Parle-G biscuits," he said.

Mr. Shah claimed that Parle had "the highest growth rate among all the biscuit companies"during the lockdown.