Digital Brands Now 11% of Legacy FMCG Revenue: Marico Leads
- 1Marico's digital-first portfolio—Beardo, Plix, True Elements, Just Herbs, Cosmix, 4700BC—has crossed Rs 1,500 crore annual run rate, contributing over 11% of consolidated revenue in FY26.
- 2HUL's premium digital beauty brands led by Minimalist and OZiva reached Rs 1,400 crore ARR, while ITC's future-ready portfolio including Yoga Bar exceeded Rs 1,350 crore.
- 3Emami aims to scale digital brands from 6% to 25% of revenue by FY30, having deployed Rs 226 crore in FY26.
- 4HUL invested over Rs 3,500 crore in bolt-on acquisitions and premium platforms during FY26 alone.
- 5These digital-first portfolios, built largely through acquisitions over the past few years, are expanding at more than 20% annually and driving material topline growth for legacy players.
Acquired D2C portfolios growing 20%+ annually as HUL, ITC, Emami pivot to premium digital-first segments.
India's FMCG giants are executing a decisive pivot. What began as experimental forays into digital-first brands has crystallised into a structural growth strategy, with acquired D2C portfolios now contributing materially to topline expansion. Marico leads this transformation with digital brands contributing over 11% of consolidated revenue—a milestone that signals the mainstreaming of brands born online.
Marico's Rs 1,500 Crore Digital Engine
Marico's stable of six digital-first brands—Beardo, Plix, True Elements, Just Herbs, Cosmix and 4700BC—has crossed an annual revenue run rate of Rs 1,500 crore as of FY26. Speaking to The Financial Express recently in August 2026, MD & CEO Saugata Gupta outlined the strategic intent: "We have the foundations of two strong digital platforms. One in beauty and personal care and another in foods. Both platforms offer significant growth opportunities." The strategy centres on building scalable, profitable businesses in categories with extended growth runways. This portfolio now represents over 11% of Marico's consolidated revenue—a proportion that would have been inconceivable five years ago when legacy brands dominated the portfolio architecture. The annual growth rate exceeds 20%, outpacing traditional FMCG categories by a significant margin.
HUL and ITC Close the Gap
Hindustan Unilever's premium digital beauty portfolio, anchored by acquisitions like Minimalist and OZiva alongside brands such as Simple and Nexxus, reached an annual run rate of approximately Rs 1,400 crore in FY26. The company deployed over Rs 3,500 crore on bolt-on acquisitions and premium platform investments during the fiscal year. CEO & MD Priya Nair has articulated that future strategy will centre on sharper consumer segmentation—a clear acknowledgment that mass-market playbooks require recalibration for digitally discovered cohorts. ITC's future-ready portfolio, including wellness brand Yoga Bar and Mother Sparsh, exceeded Rs 1,350 crore, demonstrating that diversified conglomerates are equally committed to capturing premium, wellness-oriented segments.
Mid-Tier Players Scale With Intent
Emami's digital and strategic investment portfolio contributed approximately Rs 226 crore to FY26 revenue of Rs 3,780 crore—roughly 6% of consolidated revenue. However, the company has set an ambitious target: scaling this contribution to about 25% by FY30. This represents one of the most aggressive transformation timelines articulated by an incumbent FMCG player. Godrej Consumer Products is nurturing early-stage digital assets including Muuchstac, which generates Rs 80-90 crore annually, alongside newer premium brand investments. These moves indicate that digital-first brand building is no longer the preserve of market leaders alone—it has become table stakes for remaining relevant to evolving consumer cohorts.
The Acquisition-Led Growth Model
These portfolios have been built largely through acquisitions over the past few years rather than organic incubation. This represents a strategic choice: legacy FMCG players recognise that speed-to-market and cultural fit with digital-native consumers cannot be easily replicated within traditional organisational structures. By acquiring brands that have already established product-market fit, distribution via quick commerce and D2C channels, and brand equity with millennial and Gen Z cohorts, incumbents effectively buy capabilities and customer access simultaneously. The 20%+ annual growth rate across these portfolios validates the acquisition thesis—these are not vanity investments but genuine growth engines.
The numbers reveal a structural shift in how India's largest FMCG companies perceive portfolio architecture. For decades, growth came from penetration plays—taking existing brands deeper into rural markets, expanding pack sizes, or launching minor variants. That playbook delivered diminishing returns as premium consumption patterns emerged among urban and aspirational cohorts. Digital-first brands solve a dual problem: they access consumers where discovery increasingly happens (Instagram, quick commerce, vertical marketplaces), and they command price premiums that improve realisation metrics. Marico's 11% revenue contribution from digital brands is particularly instructive because it demonstrates threshold scale—these are no longer experimental side bets but core portfolio pillars that influence resource allocation, organisational structure, and strategic planning.
What remains to be seen is whether acquired brands can sustain growth momentum under legacy parent structures. Digital-first brands succeeded initially because they operated with speed, embraced risk, and prioritised engagement over reach. The challenge for acquirers is preserving this agility while leveraging distribution muscle. Emami's 25% target by FY30 will be a critical test case—it requires not just capital deployment but cultural evolution. The winners will be those who create genuine organisational separation, allowing digital brands to operate with entrepreneurial freedom while selectively tapping into parent company advantages in procurement, regulatory expertise, and retail relationships.
Digital-first brands are no longer a separate category—they represent the future revenue mix of India's largest FMCG portfolios. For brand strategists and agency leaders, this shift demands recalibration of how premium positioning, consumer segmentation, and channel strategy are approached. The acquisition wave signals that incumbents recognise organic transformation is too slow; the imperative now is integrating these brands without suffocating the very attributes that made them valuable. Marketing leaders must prepare for hybrid operating models where mass-market efficiency coexists with digital-native agility—often within the same organisation.
This article is an editorial rewrite based on reporting originally published by The Financial Express. The original article has been rewritten and contextualised for India's marketing community by The Wise Marketing Desk using AI-assisted editorial tools.
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