MUMBAI: The first phase of the lockdown, which saw production come to a near standstill and caused supply chain disruptions, adversely impacted the business of India's largest consumer goods company, Hindustan Unilever (HUL).
The company, however, is seeing a change in demand patterns and is likely to witness an upswing in categories like health, hygiene and nutrition.
On Thursday, HUL reported a 7% decline in volumes for the quarter ended 31 March. Though the company has resumed 70-80% of its operations, it said only after some normalcy is restored in running its business, will it be able to understand to what extent demand was impaired. "We don't know to what extent the trade pipelines have come down.