On the eve of March 25, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi held another one of his dreaded 8 p.m. speeches. He came to our screens to announce a decision which would again change the course of modern Indian history without giving its people any time to prep: The country was to have a strict 21-day lockdown from the very next day to fight the spreading virus. The word “lockdown” invoked in us the same reaction demonetisation had three years ago: We wanted to stock up as fast as we could.
And so, the country scrambled to heap up supplies of essential goods—and also an excessively large amount of biscuits, noodle packets, and chips to last us not just for 21 days, but at least some days of a stretched-out apocalypse, should it arrive. And this trend would continue, though with a little less panic attached to it, as the lockdowns wore on. With our favourite restaurants shut down, and being suddenly thrown into a life that barely resembled what it was at the start of the year, we turned to one of those few things that has stayed the same: comfort foods.
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Our favourite junk foods then became an essential and soon, shops ran out supplies of breads, cookies and noodle packets for weeks. Even Google searches for biscuits and Maggi spiked during the lockdown as all of us desperately looked online for foods that were comforting, instant, cheap, shelf-stable and long-lasting.
For all of us who were used to relying on takeouts for dinners, ready-to-cook foods have been a saviour—frozen Parathas saw a surge of 60 percent while meat spreads at Licious, an online meat products delivery service, saw a doubling of demand since its launch in August last year. And because of all of us who’ve got a sweet tooth and a craving which transcended our inability to physically go buy them, the sale of packaged rasmalais and gulab jamuns surged as well.
Globally, snacking habits in the pandemic have shifted towards processed and packaged food. Even in the U.S., it was reported that several processed food companies that were earlier facing losses actually made immense profits as consumers turned to them for some resemblance of comfort.
While business plummeted for several industries due to the lockdown and the recession that now went into hyperdrive, food retail companies saw an immense surge. India’s favourite Maggi noodles surged 25 percent this entire quarter we were in the lockdown. Hindustan Unilever, India’s largest consumer goods company, reported a surge in the sale of its Kissan jams and sauces.
For the quarter that ended in June, Britannia Industries—India’s largest biscuit maker—reported a net profit jump of 5,460 million rupees ($72 million), more than a whopping 117 percent from last year. Varun Berry, Britannia managing director, told reporters on July 23 that with demand skyrocketing, the company’s inventory was down to one day, from the standard 11-12 days’ inventory in normal times. Moreover, he said, the demand was also driven from the rural pockets of the country where the pandemic arrived late.
But it wasn’t just Britannia that saw immense profit, or comfort eating that contributed to this surge. Britannia’s primary competitor, Parle Products, which has the hugely popular Parle-G brand of glucose biscuits, ended up becoming a staple for millions across the country.
A huge reason for this is its price point. A packet costs as little as Rs 2 or about 3 cents, and it breaks across class barriers. Richer people dip it in milk teas and have it; the poor dunk it in water. Governments and relief groups also bought the economically priced biscuits to be distributed to the poor in the lockdown. The comfort food for many was sadly also the only food many migrants had while walking hundreds of kilometres home.
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