Urban demand returning, but rural under stress: Tata Consumer MD & CEO

Tata Consumer plans to expand its reach in rural areas by increasing the number of outlets to 1.3 million by the end of financial year 2021-22 (FY22). In an interview with Sharleen D’Souza, Tata Consumer’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Sunil D’Souza talks about the company’s strategy to launch more D2C (direct-to-consumer) brands and the company’s demand outlook. Edited excerpts:

What products are you looking to add to your portfolio?

In the food and beverage space, we worked with an external partner to distill it and narrowed it down to about 30 categories where we could make a tangible