Parle is still India's most chosen FMCG brand. But its numbers actually fell this year, even as the overall market grew, according to Worldpanel by Numerator's Brand Footprint India 2026 report.

Parle held on to the top spot with 8.5 billion Consumer Reach Points, or CRPs, the measure Worldpanel uses to track how many households buy a brand and how often. But that number was down 1% from last year. Britannia, which is No. 2, managed only 1% growth. Both brands grew slower than the market as a whole, which was up 5.1% this year, a bit faster than the 4.9% growth seen the year before.

The Challengers Pull Ahead

Other, smaller brands did much better. Patanjali moved up to rank 12 with 11% growth, helped by its biscuits, noodles and toothpaste, plus new milk biscuit launches in more regions. Rin, the detergent brand, climbed back into the top 25 after two years outside it, growing 11% as it modernised its packaging and pushed liquid detergents. Dettol jumped seven places to rank 36, as it shifted its message from just "germ protection" to "family protection." And Sunrise masala entered the top 50 for the first time, growing 18% as it expanded beyond eastern India.

The Middle Is Where The Growth Is

This isn't a one-off. Worldpanel's data shows mid-sized brands — those with 10-30% household penetration — grew 8.1% this year. That's faster than both the big brands (30%+ penetration, up just 4.1%) and the small ones (under 10% penetration, up 4.7%). Only 56% of small brands grew at all this year, compared to 83% of the biggest ones.

Campa's Breakout Year

The clearest example of fast growth is Campa, the relaunched cola brand. Its household penetration jumped from 0.3% in 2023 to 4.1% in 2025, one of the sharpest increases in the report.

Put together, these numbers suggest that being India's biggest brand doesn't guarantee the fastest growth anymore. That's increasingly coming from mid-sized challengers willing to update their products, change their marketing, or push into new markets.

The Bigger Picture

Overall, the report shows India's FMCG market picking up pace: total CRPs rose to 129 billion this year, up from 123 billion last year. Beverages (+8.6%) and foods (+4.8%) led category growth, while dairy grew more slowly. The number of Indian brands crossing 1 billion CRPs has grown from 24 in 2021 to 34 in 2025, 10 new brands in five years. For marketers, the message is simple: scale alone isn't enough anymore. The brands growing fastest are the ones willing to change.