The revenues of Everest, MDH, Catch and Shubham Goldiee expanded between 18% and 35%, though Eastern Condiments and Aachi recorded a marginal drop in sales. Overall, combined sales of the six companies were at ₹8,711 crore ($1.07 billion) in the fiscal ended March 2022, according to filings with the Registrar of Companies, sourced from data intelligence firm Altinfo. Together, they posted a 17% jump from the previous year’s sales of ₹7,431 crore.

“The growth is on a low base of 2021, when supply affected sales in the first half,” said Rajinder Kumar, executive vice-president at Mahashian Di Hatti, popularly known as MDH, which reported a 35% increase in revenue to ₹1,759 crore. “During the pandemic, we saw strong demand from households as people increasingly took to cooking. Large events and social gatherings also led to revival in food service channels such as restaurants and caterers.”

“(Also,) we have seen people shift to branded products from loose ones for many years, but the trend accelerated post Covid,” he said.

In the ₹25,000-crore branded spices category, Everest is market leader with ₹2,610 crore in sales last fiscal year, followed by MDH.

Global, Domestic Demand Uptick

In masala, herbs and spices, domestic players including Shubham Goldiee, DS Foods, Ramdev and Eastern Condiments have the upper hand in some geographies. Over the past few years, Kerala-based Keya, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali and Mother’s Recipe have also ramped up their portfolio, with convenient packaging and ready-to-use spices.

“With an increase in recognition of spices as a health supplement, especially during the pandemic period, the demand has also seen a significant upswing, both nationally and internationally, (especially) for spices like turmeric, ginger, cumin and chillies,” DS Spiceco, the maker of Catch spices, said in its annual filings. “Consumers are now increasingly adopting cuisine from other countries and world culture. This has not only led to an increase in demand for spices, but also the variety – many now becoming de rigueur as an offering for consumers.”

Companies said supply chain challenges, increased cost of procurement and rupee depreciation led to higher value sales. Companies such as Eastern Condiments, which have a significant exposure to international markets, saw their sales decline 4% during the year.