Mondelez records double-digit growth in India in June quarter
Premium- Mondelez said the country’s short-term risk of further disruption remains significant due to the slow vaccine rollout and emergence of new variants
New Delhi: Chocolate and snacking company Mondelez International Inc., on Tuesday reported double-digit growth in India in April-June despite covid-19 linked disruptions at the beginning of the quarter.
The country’s short-term risk of further disruption remains “significant" due to the slow vaccine rollout and emergence of new variants, the company’s top management told analysts. However, Mondelez believes that the country’s long-term prospects are “still are very strong".
At its second-quarter earnings conference call, the maker of Oreo cookies and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates said that in India, the situation improved in June, and growth trends have already been restored in line with its performance in quarter one.
“India delivered another quarter of exceptional growth, despite a challenging start related to lockdowns, growing strong double-digits. India grew on a two-year average mid-single-digit," the company’s chief financial officer and executive vice president Luca Zaramella said.
Packaged consumer goods companies in India also benefited from a lower base in the year-ago quarter when lockdowns and supply-side disruptions affected demand.
Within emerging markets, the company reported a strong performance, it said, growing more than 16% for the quarter and more than 5% on a two-year basis.
This despite India being affected at the beginning of the quarter by covid-related lockdowns, Zaramella said addressing analysts. Within emerging markets, double-digit growth was seen in Brazil, India, Russia, and Mexico and high single-digit growth in China.
“I would say of those countries, there's always a potential maybe, except for China, that covid will cause some volatility, particularly a country like India looks more susceptible to it. But overall, they seem to be on a path of a gradual increase," Dirk Van de Put, chairman and chief executive officer at the company said.
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Demand in India bounced back in June. “If I look at India, they bounced back in June of the crisis of April and May, and the daily cases are now at 10% of what the peak was. So, the short-term risk of further disruption remains significant due to the slow vaccine rollout and new variants. But if I look at the long-term prospects, I believe they still are very strong. And our team there is executing the strategy very well, doing more investment, increasing the range and driving more distribution," he added.
The company is driving its reach in emerging markets where it continues to gain distribution in markets like China and India with another 60,000 and 20, 000 stores added this quarter.
Mondelēz International, Inc. sells its brands in over 150 countries around the world. Its brands include Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate; Sour Patch Kids candy and Trident gum.
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