These companies remain optimistic about demand. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil) The leading FMCG makers are likely to implement a calibrated price hike in the coming September quarter. Rising input costs due to commodity inflation and geopolitical uncertainties are prompting them to take the approach. These companies remain optimistic about demand, citing resilient consumption trends, premiumisation, and improved revenue growth. In the June quarter, the FMCG sector took an average hike of around 2-5 per cent. The sector is going for shrinkflation by reducing the grammage weight or selective pricing actions in the current quarter to protect margins. However, they stay watchful of inflationary pressures, crude oil volatility and weather-related risks such as the monsoon and El Nino. During the earnings call, Britannia said it expects to add another 1.5 to 2 per cent in pricing in the second quarter through "shrinkflation" in its Rs 5 and Rs 10 biscuit packs, as commodity prices for sugar and palm oil are on the higher side. Britannia MD and CEO Rakshit Hargave in the earnings call said, "Going ahead in the quarter, you will see something more coming in. If the overall impact was 1 per cent, you would probably see maybe another 1.5-2 per cent coming in." The FMCG company said its Q1 pricing-led growth came mainly from shrinkflation, and expects further pricing actions in the current quarter. Notably, the Godrej Consumer Products Ltd had took an average price increase of around 5 per cent in the June quarter. The company may also implement a hike in the current quarter. CEO Sudhir Sitapati said the company has refrained from taking larger price increases due to volatility in crude oil prices. On whether GCPL has taken any further price hikes at the quarter-end, he said, "No... We may get a similar kind of price increase in Q2 as well..." Dabur India also said elevated input costs are likely to persist in the near term, prompting calibrated price hikes alongside a strong focus on productivity and cost efficiencies to protect margins. "The growth will be more driven by revenue and price. Because of inflation, we had to pass it on to the consumer. Price growth and value growth are becoming higher than volume growth. Volumes will be under pressure as the inflation is too much," said Dabur India Global Chief Executive Officer Mohit Malhotra in the earnings call while replying to a query on growth. Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) is also expected to hike prices across multiple product categories in the September quarter as it anticipates sequential inflation of 2-5 per cent compared to April-June. Vikas Kumar is Deputy Editor (Business) at Times Now driving coverage across policy, economy and markets. He possesses nearly a decade of experience i... View More