CavinKare cautions against industry slowdown amid inflation and high crude prices

NEW DELHI: Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm CavinKare is cautious about a possible industry slowdown on rising inflation and crude prices in the next six months, according to CK Ranganathan, CMD, CavinKare and President of All India Management Association (AIMA).

In an interaction with The New Indian Express, Ranganathan said inflation will bring the demand further down. “So growth is not sustainable in this scenario and 5-6 months later you will see growth tapering, which we need to take cognizance of,” he said.  The company is growing at the moment but Ranganathan says a further slowdown is in the offing. “If you ask me today, we are very bullish. We are growing healthily at a rate upward of 18-20%,” he noted.

He goes on to add that western countries are seeing a significant slowdown due to unprecedented inflation and they are not alienated from the world.  “The things that we hear in India don’t give me confidence. We are not an insulated economy. We are linked to the global market.” The company plans to focus on rural coverage and tailor-made SKUs for rural consumers in a bid to beat the declining demand in the region. The focus is also on e-commerce as it sees a significant buying from multiple e-commerce channels post the onset of the pandemic. 

IPO plans 
Cavinkare had originally announced its plans of going public in 2020. Speaking on the future plans of an Initial Public Offering (IPO), Ranganathan said the company had to hold it because of the pandemic. He said the company would definitely take it up once the inflation cools down.