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Informist, Monday, Jun. 29, 2026

KOLKATA – In its quest to derisk the company from the mainstay cigarettes business and open new avenues for future growth, ITC Ltd. is investing in creating 'Portfolios for the Future' and making strategic acquisitions which are poised to become the new growth drivers for the company. 

The cigarettes portfolio accounts for 46% of the company's topline and the non-cigarettes consumer goods products makes up for 30% of the annual top line, but cigarettes continue to account for 88% of its pre-tax profit. The non-cigarettes consumer goods portfolio, on other hand, continues to play a minor role in the company's profits and accounts for only around 7.5% of the gross profits, according to ITC's annual report for 2025-26 (Apr-Mar). 

However, maintaining that its investments on the non-cigarettes portfolio will take some gestation period to start contributing significantly towards its future profits, ITC is building its non-cigarettes consumer goods portfolio and testing waters with various new verticals.

NEW FRESH FOODS BUSINESS 

The country's largest cigarette company and also the largest consumer goods company by sheer top line, recently forayed into the fresh foods business by leveraging its sourcing of agricultural products, in-house know-how of foods trends and collaboration from its associate company, ITC Hotels Ltd. which was demerged into a new entity in the last financial year. 

"ITC is pursuing new growth drivers at the intersection of mega trends in digital and sustainability, leveraging its institutional strengths. ITC's Fresh Food Business combines the conglomerate's strengths in food brands, cuisine expertise of ITC Hotels, food sciences, and manufacturing, as well as digital capabilities," ITC said in the annual report. 

Operating under four brands - ITC Master Chef Creations, ITC Aashirvaad Soul Creations, ITC Sunfeast Baked Creations, and Sansho by ITC Master Chef, ITC's products from the newly founded fresh food business are delivered to consumers through 70 cloud kitchens in five cities--Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune. 

FMCG PORTFOLIO 

Apart from coming up with an altogether new business vertical, ITC is furthering its existing brands like launching new products supporting digestive health and organic products under the Aashirvaad and 24 Mantra Organic brands, ready-to-cook and heat-and-eat products under the Aashirvaad and ITC Master Chef brands, and many others. 

ITC said its 24 Mantra Organic range comprises certified organic products grown without synthetic pesticides or chemicals, while promoting sustainable farming and offering a diverse organic portfolio across Indian and global markets. 

The company is also rolling out region-specific products like the Namma Chakki whole wheat flour for the south Indian region, and also developing spices under the Sunrise brand catering to regional flavours. However, the company also launched region-agnostic spices like Chinese Fried Rice and Schezwan spices which have a national pull. 

In the annual report for FY26, ITC said that its non-cigarettes consumer goods products delivered a "strong performance during the year", with double-digit revenue growth driven by broad-based scale up across categories, notwithstanding heightened competitive intensity. 

"While the year commenced on a subdued note, amidst weak demand conditions and elevated input costs following sharp price escalations in the previous year, the businesses responded with agility through focused market interventions, portfolio premiumisation, supply chain resilience & efficiency, disciplined cost management and judicious pricing actions," ITC said in the annual report. 

ITC's strategy to rapidly scale up the consumer goods businesses remains anchored on strengthening the core, extending trusted mother brands into value-added adjacencies, and nurturing new vectors of growth leveraging institutional capabilities including agri sourcing, packaging, cuisine expertise, and consumer insights.

"The key strategic pillars to drive long-term growth and competitiveness comprise future-ready portfolio, purpose-led brands, innovation, agile & resilient supply chain, smart omni-channel distribution and value accretive mergers and acquisitions," ITC said.

CIGARETTES PORTFOLIO

ITC is not only focusing on building a future-ready portfolio in the non-cigarettes consumer goods business, but also in its mainstay cigarettes portfolio. ITC is the market leader in cigarettes in India with over 73% market share. In the last financial year, ITC continued to make strategic portfolio and market interventions, with focus on competitive belts, to counter illicit trade and reinforce market standing.

"Several innovative variants have been introduced recently under the 'Classic', 'Gold Flake', 'American Club' and 'Players' trademarks, among others, to expand and deepen consumer franchise. These initiatives were supported by the introduction of limited-edition variants and targeted interventions to enhance the reach of premium offerings across markets," ITC said in the annual report for FY26.

ITC said it delivered a resilient performance on the back of sustained volume-led growth momentum. Differentiated and premium offerings continued to perform well leveraging mainstream trademarks and innovation. However, its use of high-cost leaf tobacco inventory weighed on margin, which was partially mitigated through a combination of product mix enrichment and strategic cost management interventions.

At 1428 IST, shares of ITC traded flat at INR 289.90 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Reported by Avishek Rakshit

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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