Demand for essential items such as basmati rice, edible oils, and maida (refined wheat flour) has seen a notable year-on-year increase of up to 35% during the ongoing wedding season, as indicated by industry executives.
Not only have larger urban areas experienced a surge in the consumption of essential commodities, but tier-2 and tier-3 cities have also observed a similar increase, according to their statements.
“We are seeing demand coming in from places like Udaipur, Jaipur, Agra, Kolkata, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and south India,” said Angshu Mallick, managing director of Adani Wilmar, which sells consumer staples under the brand name Fortune.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) anticipates that approximately 3.5 million weddings will take place between November 23 and December 15 this year.
According to Mallick, weddings have evolved into more elaborate affairs this year, with the scale of gatherings expanding not only in metropolitan areas but also in semi-urban and rural regions.
“Our dealers and distributors have stocked more compared to last year. The number of invitees, which stood at 300 last year, has shot up to 500 this year. And this trend is being witnessed in smaller towns and cities where the population is 2-3 lakh,” he said.
Despite a 10% rise in prices attributed to strong export orders from Gulf countries, the year-on-year demand for basmati rice has surged by 15-20%.
“In this winter wedding season, which is one of the busiest of recent times, we have been witnessing steady growth in demand for basmati rice. Offering a great aromatic culinary experience has always been one of the priorities of families hosting marriage ceremonies,” said Atul Garg, managing director of GRM Overseas, a basmati rice company. “As a result, there has been a 15% increase in procurement demand for basmati rice from dealers and distributors across India compared to the demand during last year’s wedding season. The traders want to maintain the required stock level to meet the increased market demand in the wedding season.”
Mallick reported a 20% year-on-year increase in the demand for edible oil, while the demand for maida has experienced a significant surge of 35% during this wedding season.
As per the CAIT report, approximately 10% of this year’s total projected weddings are anticipated to take place in Delhi alone. Among these, around 50,000 weddings are expected to fall into the luxury category, incurring expenses of at least INR 1 crore each. Another 50,000 weddings are likely to have an expenditure of around INR 50 lakh per event, while approximately 600,000 weddings are expected to see expenses of about INR 25 lakh each.
According to the report, the majority of weddings, nearly 1.2 million of them, are projected to have expenses of approximately INR 10 lakh each. Additionally, another one million weddings are expected to incur expenses of around INR 6 lakh each.