| While much has been made of the revival of the FMCG industry's revival in the latest quarter "" sales rose 18 per cent and earnings 27 per cent "" much of this took place due to a revival in rural demand. Indeed, from October last year, rural growth has been surpassing urban growth by a huge margin to begin with, though the gap has now lessened considerably. The growth is not just volume driven, and key players like Lever and Colgate have been raising prices as well. As a result of a host of new product launches, advertisement and promotion spend is also up to an all-time high "" the figure, as a proportion of sales, is now over 10 per cent for Hindustan Lever, around 18 per cent for Colgate and around 13 per cent for Dabur). |
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