The Indian market has continued to experience sales challenges by Multinational Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies whose products are within the range of soap to soft drinks in the September quarter. These disruptions were mainly ascribed to the introduction of Goods and Services Tax reforms and unusually heavy rains in some parts of the country during the monsoon season. The major world brands such as Unilever, Reckitt, Heineken, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Pernod Ricard, and Nestle all reported a robust and bullish future of the Indian market, due to the high demand and a long-term trajectory of increasing volumes in the future.

GST reforms and adverse weather conditions

A number of international FMCG giants cited the difficulties that they encountered in their quarterly earnings conference calls. The GST reforms and unfavorable weather conditions were the two major factors that led to disruptions in the trade channels.

The adoption of the new GST rate and subsequent reforms caused a short-term phasing effect on the net revenue growth of certain companies. British FMCG giant Reckitt reported that its net revenue growth in India was impacted negatively by the new GST rates in the September quarter, and its like-for-like growth stood at low single digits in the quarter. The CEO of Unilever, Fernando Fernandez, mentioned that the GST reform had short-term effects.

The monsoon season also came unusually with very heavy rains in some parts of the country, which affected the sales volumes, especially of drinks. Heineken NV, the owner of United Breweries (UBL), declared that it experienced a decrease in its India beer volume by mid-single-digit in the September quarter of 2025, caused by the heavy monsoon. Disruption was also reported in American cola giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. According to the CEO of PepsiCo, Ramon Laguarta, the weather affected the September quarter. Coca-Cola COO, Henrique Gnani Braun, particularly cited that volumes had dropped in the Asia Pacific markets, such as India, because of the Inclement weather.

French spirits giant Pernod Ricard has experienced a 3% rise in sales in India, and it has mentioned that this performance has been adversely affected by the excise policy measures that have been enacted in Maharashtra in July. This policy change is anticipated to keep dragging down the overall sales performance of the company throughout the entire year, even though the underlying consumer demand is favorable.

Growth potential

In spite of these quarterly losses, the overall mood of these large multinational firms is still overwhelmingly optimistic as to the future of the Indian market in the long run. The companies consider the disruptions to be temporary and that the underlying forces of demand are robust. These giants also expect that India will maintain a vital long-term runway in the future to provide volume and revenue growth through these giants, with high underlying consumer demand and favorable macro-economic conditions.

Pernod Ricard CFO Hélène de Tissot said, “While enjoying strong underlying consumer demand dynamics, sales in India are negatively impacted by the excise policy changes in Maharashtra implemented in July.”

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Conclusion

The third quarter was problematic for the global FMCG giants in India, with the overlapping introduction of disruptive GST changes, along with the negative influence of heavy monsoon rainfall, momentarily affecting sales and volume growth within the trade channels. The general sentiment of the market leaders in the industry, such as Unilever, PepsiCo, and Coca-Cola, is very confident and optimistic about the future of the Indian market. They recognized that the short-run pain is a transitory effect of the structural changes, including the GST, which are eventually worthwhile.