Fast-food chains McDonald's and KFC, and packaged food brands like Lay's chips and Maggi noodles reported normal sales this weekend, despite a study on Friday alleging high levels of trans-fat, sugar and salts in their food on Friday. Analysts say it is natural for consumers of chips, burgers and noodles to ignore Centre for Science and Environment's warning because they know what they are getting into when they consume chips and...

The reduced allocation to the UPA government’s flagship rural programme NREGA could see revenue growth in the FMCG sector falter. Consumer staples firms have been relying on rural demand growth to bolster their top line but the reduced allocation to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) for the financial year 2012-13 could see growth in FMCG sales in rural areas being crimped feel industry experts. Finance minister Pranab...

Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar, India’s biggest rural retail chain by sales, which operates 230 stores across eight states and had seen good growth in the past two years, said it had seen a fall in rural demand in the past two to three months. A drop in prices of potatoes, onions and some other vegetables, leading to low realisation for farmers, and an increase in cost of fertiliser, are reasons for these...