How Marico Is Building Its Next Growth Engine Through Premium and Digital-First Brands
Marico is no longer relying only on the strength of established names such as Parachute and Saffola. It is simultaneously expanding into premium products, foods, beauty and digital-first consumer brands.
The ambition is clear: Marico wants premium products to account for 50% of its portfolio by FY30, up from 37% today.
Its recent acquisitions show how seriously the company is pursuing that goal.
Three acquisitions, one broader strategy
Marico made three significant investments in the opening weeks of 2026.
93.27% of snack brand 4700BC for ₹226.8 crore
60% of wellness brand Cosmix for ₹226 crore
75% stake in Skinetiq, a Vietnamese beauty company
These transactions add to a strategy Marico has been developing for years rather than representing a sudden shift.
The company first moved into digital-first brands in 2017 with its investment in Beardo. At that time, Beardo's revenue was around ₹80 crore. Since then, Marico has expanded its portfolio across several consumer categories, including Beardo, Plix, Just Herbs, True Elements, Cosmix and 4700BC.
The results are beginning to show at scale.
Plix has crossed ₹500 crore in revenue, while Marico's digital-first portfolio has reached an annualised revenue run rate of approximately ₹1,100 crore. Marico is also targeting around ₹1,000 crore in annual recurring revenue from its digital business in FY26.
The interesting part is what Marico does not change
Acquiring a consumer brand often creates a difficult transition.
A young company built around speed, experimentation and a strong founder identity can lose some of those characteristics when it becomes part of a large corporation.
Marico appears to be taking a different approach.
The founders of its digital-first businesses continue to operate their brands with significant independence.
Instead of completely restructuring them, Marico can provide capabilities that are difficult for younger companies to build independently.
These include procurement, distribution, logistics and raw material sourcing. That creates an unusual combination. The brands can retain the operating style and identity of younger consumer companies while gaining access to the infrastructure and scale of an established FMCG player.
For Marico, this creates another route to growth without having to build every new brand from scratch.
The legacy businesses are still growing
In Q1 FY27, Parachute volumes grew 10%, while its market share increased by more than 400 basis points to reach a record 59%. Its value-added hair oils business grew 22% in value terms.
The foods business also recorded strong growth, increasing 43% in the first quarter and crossing an annualised revenue run rate of approximately ₹1,300 crore.
Marico expects its food business to reach nine times its FY20 revenue by FY27 and 15 times its FY20 level by FY30. Saffola, therefore, is increasingly becoming part of a broader foods strategy rather than remaining associated primarily with edible oil.
A portfolio with multiple growth engines
What makes Marico's current strategy notable is the number of growth engines operating simultaneously.
Its traditional businesses continue to generate scale.
Its foods portfolio is expanding into a much larger opportunity.
Its digital-first brands are becoming substantial businesses.
And acquisitions are helping Marico add exposure to categories where premiumisation and changing consumer behaviour are creating new opportunities.
The company is essentially combining two models.
One is the traditional FMCG model, built around distribution, scale and established brands.
The other is the digital-first model, built around focused products, founder-led companies and faster consumer experimentation.
Marico's challenge now is to make those two models work together without losing what made the newer brands attractive in the first place.
If it can maintain that balance, its portfolio by FY30 could look very different from the Marico consumers know today.
Comments