PackMan looks at Bangladesh crisis as well as fake pharmacists

PackMan has been gobbling up the news. The CEOs of FMCG companies based in India who have ops in Bangladesh have issued advisories in the past week. This included two things: stalling operations and keeping offices closed. Some FMCG companies have also chosen to shut down retail operations until such time as things get better in the conflict-ridden region. 

PackMan has a list of FMCG companies with a presence in Bangladesh. These are: Dabur, Godrej, Emami, and Britannia. Notably, for Marico, 44% of its international revenue comes from Bangladesh. 

PackMan’s prediction — wobbly markets ahead.

PCI cracks down on fake pharmacists

The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) will appoint the presidents of the state councils as adjudicating officers. This will be done so that harsher penalties can be imposed on fake pharmacists. Earlier, when a violation was made, the punishment was a Rs 1,000 fine and a six-month imprisonment, or both. 

PackMan has heard that the revised penalties do away with imprisonment and raise the fine to Rs one-lakh for the first offence, and two-lakh for any offences made thereafter.

OPPI seeks predictable drug pricing policy

On the global front, sources have informed PackMan that the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) — which represents domestic and multinational corporations — asked the government for a predictable drug pricing policy.

PackMan has been reading up, and PackMan requests WhatPackaging? readers to look at paragraph 19 of the Drug Pricing Control Order. This “authorises the government, in case of extraordinary circumstances, in public interest, to fix the ceiling price or retail price of any drug for such period, as it may deem fit.” So beware.

QSR chains expand offerings to deal with slump

Several quick-service restaurants (QSR) have seen a decline in dine-in rates. High food inflation has impacted the prices of raw materials. It has also reduced the purchasing power of the public, therefore slowing the sector down.

PackMan has been observing that QSRs have tried to innovate their dine-in experiences to fall back on track. New verticals have been introduced, stores are being remodelled. PackMan thinks a renewed focus on in-store dining is on the horizon.

Consumers splurge on premium FMCG products

The demand for premium products like hair serums, fabric conditioners, and dark chocolates has increased. According to CPM International, the demand for such products has increased by over a third in volume, and by half in value over the past two years.

PackMan thinks this segment is going to grow. This is good news. PackMan has heard that daily household items have not been selling very quickly. The growth rate of volumes in the FMCG market dropped from 8.2% last year, to 4.6%. Foods like biscuits, instant noodles, and other savoury snacks have seen a slowdown in sales.

The impact of summer goods’ sales bring cool gains to consumers

PackMan spotted that consumers purchased almost 75-lakh units of air conditioners in Q1, according to GfK data analytics. 

PackMan has learnt from industry sources that these sales exceed the sales of the entire calendar year of 2022. Similarly, refrigerator sales grew 16% in volume, the highest since 2019.

The heat turned up sales for other summer products too, like Navratna hair oil and Dermicool talcum powder from Emami. Dabur’s sales in the juice category increased by 21%. PepsiCo bottler Varun Beverages saw its sales increase by 23% year-on-year.