To sustain growth in the second quarter, ITC plans to increase its investments in the FMCG business. The company is investing in manufacturing and distribution infrastructure for ITC Foods division to drive volumes during this quarter. The company plans to focus on supply chain improvements to enhance product freshness, market servicing and margins.

Chittaranjan Dhar, CEO, ITC Foods said: We plan to set up new manufacturing facilities for our biscuits in East and Central India to meet the growing demands. We also plan to increase our penetration levels in both rural and urban markets to reach out to a wider audience. ITCs branded branded packaged foods business registered 34% growth in sales for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. Sales of Sunfeast biscuits grew 43% during the quarter along with product mix improvement, with sales of value-added variants of cookies and creams growing significantly, said Dhar.

The company plans to increase its ad budget to with its business expectations this quarter. At present, ITCs major food brands include Aashirvaad, Sunfeast, Kitchens of India, Minto and Candyman, among others. ITCs personal care division is investing in building a strong portfolio of products and brands through research and development strategies backed by the companys R&D center. ITC Personal Cares revenues grew 86% for the quarter. The company is also planning to foray into new segments to cater to the growing needs of consumers.

Sandeep Kaul, CEO of ITC Personal Care, said: Our core strategy is to continue our consumer engagement strategy communicating the benefits of our differentiated features of our products. As our business is consumer-centric, we are looking at innovations. In sync with this strategy, the company is beefing up the quality of engagement with consumers through deployment of media, direct contact and promotional activities across conventional and new age consumer connect avenues. ITC Personal Care plans to leverage investments in tax-exempt manufacturing facilities at Haridwar (Uttarakhand) and Manpura (Himachal Pradesh). We will be leveraging ITCs existing distribution networks to reach out to rural and urban markets, in India said Kaul.