Marico’s packaged foods and personal care achieve ₹1,900 crore ARR

Homegrown fast-moving goods company Marico Ltd, on Friday, said its packaged foods and premium personal care portfolio comprising categories such as oats, muesli, male grooming products and wellness supplements has clocked a combined annual revenue run rate (ARR) of ₹1,900 crore.

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“The composite revenue share of foods and premium personal care, including digital-first brands, in the domestic business stood at 21% in the nine months of FY25 despite significant pricing growth in the core portfolios. These businesses are now clocking a combined annual revenue run rate (ARR) of around ₹1,900 crore and represent a phenomenal shift in the growth trajectory and the potential of the India business in the future,” Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive, said during the company’s post-earnings call Friday.

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The company’s foods portfolio includes Saffola Oats, True Elements muesli and the plant-based nutrition portfolio of Plix. Within premium personal care, it has brands such as Beardo, Just Herbs and the personal care portfolio of Plix. Marico’s core portfolio comprises brands such as Parachute oil and Saffola Edible Oils.

Marico has been diversifying its core hair and edible oils portfolio in India to enter new categories and invest in new-age brands.

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In 2021—Marico picked up a majority stake in Apcos Naturals Pvt. Ltd, which sells skin and hair care products under the Just Herbs brand. In 2023, it acquired a majority stake in Satiya Nutraceuticals Pvt. Ltd that owns the plant-based nutrition brand Plix for ₹369 crore. It also fully acquired the male grooming brand Beardo.

“In 2020, we had set an aspiration of developing a ₹1,000 foods portfolio. We also anticipated the threat of direct-to-consumer brands eating into incumbent players’ growth as early as to 2020, which has happened in some of the developed markets, including US. Similarly, we identified the higher growth potential of foods versus beauty and personal care,” Gupta said.

The company’s digital-first portfolio, comprising Beardo, Just Herbs and the personal care portfolio of Plix, reached ₹600 crore in ARR in the December quarter. Foods neared an ₹1,000 crore ARR in the December quarter, the company said in its earnings announcement. 

The company reported a 4% jump in December quarter profit to ₹399 crore. It reported volume growth of 6% in its India business. The company reported a 15% jump in quarterly revenue to ₹2,794 crore in Q3, compared to ₹2,422 crore posted in the same period last year.

In urban markets, consumption sentiment has remained reasonably stable and healthy amongst the affluent and upper-middle class segments. The company said that the middle and bottom of the pyramid segment appeared relatively subdued and marred by inflation and slow wage growth.

“The FMCG sector exhibited reasonably steady demand sentiment during the quarter. Retail and food inflation were at elevated levels but showed some signs of easing in December. Urban demand remains stable yet soft on a sequential basis, whereas rural continued to witness improvement—growing at 2X the pace of urban on a year-on-year basis for the third consecutive quarter result,” Gupta said.

The company’s gross margin in the December quarter contracted by 180 bps year-on-year, primarily impacted by the rising trend in copra and vegetable oil prices, which was only partly offset by pricing actions in key portfolios.