ITC Foods' dairy & beverage biz to focus on volume

DAIRY AND BEVERAGES maker ITC Foods is gearing up for volumeled growth in FY25 on the back of commodity pricing stabilising, an expanded summer portfolio, and enhanced reach in smaller geographies, chief operating officer (COO) Sanjay Singal told FE.

- AKANKSHA NAGAR

"In the last few months, prices of milk have come down after going up by at least 10 per litre. The retail prices won't go up any further since raw material prices have stabilised now," he said.

According to NielsenIQ, the volume growth in the food sector during the October-December quarter stood at 5.3%, down from 8.7% in the July-September quarter of 2023.

Although categories, including dairy and beverages, faced inflationary headwinds last fiscal, Singal pointed out that there have hardly been any price increases.

"We will focus on volumes this year. At the same time, managing our supply chain cost, we try to drive volume growth by going deeper into geographies," he said.

For instance, in Bihar, the company was earlier present in all 29 districts but through district headquarters, and it is now trying to penetrate 10,000 population markets in the state.