Parle Biscuits may axe up to 10,000 employees amid slowdown in demand

Parle-G is one of the most popular brands from Parle Products Pvt Ltd, it was considered the worlds largest selling biscuit brand. The once affordable much-loved biscuit will soon be a thing of the past. Yes, Parle Products Pvt Ltd have decided to raise its prices and might also lay off up to 10,000 workers due to an economic slump and falling demand in the rural heartland.

In a telephonic interview to BS Mayank Shah, category head at Parle said, “A sharp drop in Parle’s biscuit sales means the company may have to slash production, which may result in layoffs of 8,000-10,000 people. The situation is so bad, that if the government doesn’t intervene immediately we may be forced to eliminate these positions.”

Shah further added, “The demand for popular Parle biscuit brands such as Parle-G had been worsening since India rolled out a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) in 2017, which imposed a higher levy on biscuits costing as low as Rs 5, or 7 cents a pack. The higher taxes have forced Parle to offer fewer biscuits in each pack, hitting demand from lower-income consumers in rural India, which contributes more than half of Parle’s revenue and where two-thirds of Indians live.”

Parle, founded in 1929, employs about 100,000 people, including direct and contract workers across 10 company-owned facilities and 125 contract manufacturing plants. Once known as Parle Gluco, the Mumbai-headquartered company’s flagship biscuit brand was renamed as Parle-G, and became a household name in India through the 1980s and 1990s. In 2003, Parle-G was considered the world’s largest selling biscuit brand.

A downturn in Asia’s third-largest economy is denting sales of everything from cars to clothing. This has led to companies curtailing production. They have been hoping that the Indian government will unveil an economic stimulus to revive growth.

Parle is not the only food product company to have flagged slowing demand. Varun Berry, managing director of Britannia Industries Ltd , Parle’s main competitor, said earlier this month that consumers were “thinking twice” about buying products worth just Rs 5.

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