FMCG players witness spike in demand for hygiene products

NEW DELHI: As the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across India, leading FMCG companies are witnessing a strong surge in demand for their health and hygiene products, including hand sanitiser, hand wash, disinfectant spray and germ protection wipes.

Companies such as ITC, Himalaya Drug Company and Patanjali said they have ramped up their production capacity to address spurt in demand, assuring that their hygiene products are available to the consumers.

The companies had witnessed a slowdown in the consumption pattern of these items in the past 2-3 months. Now, they have reviewed their production plans as per the current situation and are rapidly scaling up and have streamlined their production capacities.

“We are witnessing a strong uptick in demand for our hygiene portfolio across some geographies. The robustness and agility of our supply chains provide the flexibility and enable us to address the emerging demand trends,” ITC Divisional Chief Executive (Personal Care Products) Sameer Satpathy

told PTI.

Similarly, Himalaya Drug Company Business Director (Consumer Products Division) Rajesh Krishnamurthy said, “We have shored up our logistics, sales priorities and capabilities to cater to the COVID-19-induced business environment.”

At Himalaya, he said “production planning is done almost two months in advance hence we didn’t anticipate a surge in cases during late March and early April. We have accordingly reviewed the production plans as per current situation”.