The middle income segment—the largest in terms of consumption—may not really be witnessing any reduction in size, but factors such as unemployment and inflation are sure contributing to a sharp dip in purchasing power.
“The middle class of the country seems to be shrinking. Today, the pain point has been felt by most FMCG as the middle segment is becoming a little tight. Once upon a time, it (weakened demand) was for a quarter, but now the last two to three quarters have been weakened.”
This is what Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director of Nestlé India, said last week after the country’s largest food and beverage company reported its slowest quarterly growth in eight years. To support his argument, Narayanan said that premium consumption remained high, but the segment that is usually bought …
Disha is a writer at The Morning Context. She has previously worked at the digital production desk of Reuters. Prior to that, she was a sub-editor at Deccan Herald.
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