Parle Wins the Race for India's Top FMCG Brand Making it 12 in a Row Parle secures 7,980 million CRP, making it India's top FMCG player over Britannia

India's love affair with snacking continues as Parle secures the top spot as India's most wanted FMCG player with 7,980 million consumer reach points (CRP). As per Kantar Worldpanel's annual Brand Footprint rankings in India, the brands that have made the biggest rises up the ranking come from this sector – led by Bingo, the salty snack brand, which has leapt 13 places. Sobisco Biscuits has jumped 10 places, to secure a position in the Top 50 for the first time. Biscuit brand Priyagold and Haldiram's have both jumped eight places, while Balaji, another salty snack brand, became a top 20 name by rising seven places. The success of the sector, and all the big brands within it, has transformed the Indian FMCG market. In the 2019 Brand Footprint rankings there were three snack brands in the top 20; this year there are six.

For the 12th consecutive year, Parle reigned supreme among 445 brands, boasting an impressive consumer reach points (CRP) score of 7,980 million. Britannia follows closely, with a CRP of 7,937 million, marking a 16 per cent increase. Parle also saw a 6 per cent gain. Meanwhile, Clinic Plus, Hindustan Unilever's trusted shampoo brand, held its own as the sole non-food entity in the top five, despite a 5 per cent dip to 4,144 million CRP.

Patanjali, a brand that spans across sectors, went up six positions, becoming the latest addition to the 2 billion CRP club in India. Despite being in the shadows for a while, the brand started picking up following the pandemic, thanks to its strong Ayurvedic proposition. Himalaya – another brand with a similar natural proposition – also gained six positions, and is currently ranked at no.101.

"A total of 115 billion consumer reach points (CRPs) were recorded this year, a growth of nearly 6 per cent. Like last year, the 1 Billion CRP club in India consists of 28 brands. 75 per cent of these top brands have expanded their CRPs over the past year – and we can witness the Blueprint for Brand Growth in action with every single one of them. When we look at the brands that have not grown their CRPs, meanwhile, we see that in most cases these are category leaders losing out because shoppers are now diversifying their purchases based on their changing needs," K Ramakrishnan, managing director- South Asia, Worldpanel Division, Kantar.

This year's successful brands seem to be buoyed by the success of the categories in which they operate. The surge in fortune of these categories means that the Indian ranking – which had been dominated by a bunch of dairy brands in the past – is now becoming more diversified.