Weak rural demand takes a toll on consumer segment, say experts

Consumer durables makers have also witnessed a slowdown in rural demand due to inflationary trends coupled with weak festive season sales

Weak rural demand has become a concern not just for the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, but it has impacted sales of other consumer segments like consumer durables and apparels as well.

Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and managing director of Hindustan Unilever told Business Standard in a recent interview, “Value growth in rural areas is still positive. Negative growth is volume growth. That’s very clearly a distinction because the headline growth is still positive. And, there are a couple of things which I would say. One is the unprecedented inflation, which has taken place in some of the big categories over the