Adani Wilmar markets its edible oils and other food items under the Fortune brand. The company shared a preliminary update on the standalone performance during the Q3 FY23. The company said that this year, festivals and weddings were celebrated at a much larger scale, compared to the base quarter which got impacted by lingering covid effect. It also benefited from a stronger out-of-home (OOH) consumption. The edible oil major added that its growth has been broad-based across both urban and rural towns, with higher saliency in the urban markets. The company reported high-single digit growth in edible oil volumes, while the growth in value terms was in low-single digit in Q3FY23.

“In a volatile edible oil price environment during the year, we have been able to capture demand with our portfolio of popular and premium brands,” the company said.

Hence, packed oil sales grew strongly by high-double digit during the quarter, on the back of higher in-house as well as out-of-home consumption. However, institutional demand was weak and declined during the quarter, the company added.

Food & FMCG basket continued to grow at a very strong rate of high-20s in volumes and mid-40 growth in value in percentage terms during the quarter. The growth was driven by increasing penetration and amply supported by our wide-spread distribution network of edible oils across India.

Wheat flour category grew strongly driven by increase in retail outlet reach, high-paced growth in alternative channels, focused branding and strong on-ground execution.

In Rice business, the company said that it took several targeted actions across multiple customer segments and witnessing good results which was well supported by increase in our manufacturing capacity (both own and leased). Non-basmati rice, which is 90%+ by volume share in India, is another under-served category which will become a growth driver for the company, it added.

Besan & pulses, sugar, soya nuggets and personal care category also registered strong volume growth in the quarter.

Industry essentials registered a strong volume growth of over 40% and high-teens growth in value during Q3 FY23, driven by higher production e- sale of de-oiled cakes (DOC), on the back of a good crop of mustard e- soya in India and competitive pricing in the export markets.

Additionally, Oleochemicals & Castor, which together contribute close to 55% of overall segment volume, also witnessed good growth. The company said that it continued dominance in Castor exports, increasing its market share (of total castor exports from India) to 32% in Q3 FY23.

Adani Wilmar said that it has recognised the large opportunity available in HoReCa (Hotels, Restaurants, Caterers) segment and its capability to serve them with the wide-ranged product basket of kitchen essentials. The company said it will further develop its operating model to drive sales in this customer segment.

Adani Wilmar, a joint venture between Adani Group of India and Wilmar Group of Singapore, is one of the largest consumer Food FMCG companies in India. The company has a diversified product portfolio offering most of the primary kitchen essentials including edible oil, wheat flour, rice, pulses, besan and sugar with market leading positions across products.

The company reported 73% drop in net profit to Rs 49 crore in Q2 FY23 from Rs 182 crore in Q2 FY22. Revenue during the second quarter rose by 5% YoY to Rs 14,209 crore.