Orkla India sells spices and convenience foods. Its revenue from operations rose 19.4% to ₹776 crore in the July to September 2026 quarter. Its profit after tax, before one-time items, rose 19.2% to ₹91 crore, from ₹77 crore a year earlier.
Spices drove most of the growth. But the company sold only a little more by quantity, and costlier raw materials squeezed its margins. A small investor should look at both sides of this story.
What happened
Orkla India announced its results for the second quarter of the financial year 2026-27, called Q2 FY27. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, sales growth came from the spices business and from markets inside India.
Livemint also reported the 19.4% revenue rise. It said strong spice sales and price increases drove the growth. It added that volume growth stayed weak because input costs were high. Volume growth means the change in the actual quantity of goods sold, not their rupee value.
Orkla India is a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company. FMCG companies sell everyday items that people buy often, like spices, snacks, soap and tea.
The numbers
The table below shows the main figures reported by The Hindu BusinessLine. Each growth figure compares this quarter with the same quarter last year.
| Item | Q2 FY27 | Growth from a year ago |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue from operations | ₹776 crore | 19.4% |
| Profit after tax (before exceptional items) | ₹91 crore | 19.2% |
| Spices revenue | ₹498 crore | 25.1% |
| Convenience foods revenue | ₹271 crore | 7.7% |
| Domestic revenue | ₹623 crore | 20% |
| International revenue | ₹145 crore | 11.7% |
The table shows that spices grew more than three times as fast as convenience foods. Sales in India also grew faster than sales abroad.
By our calculation, spices made up about 64% of revenue from operations this quarter. Also by our calculation, profit rose by ₹14 crore from a year ago.
One point needs care. The table shows domestic revenue up 20%. But in the same report, Managing Director and CEO Sanjay Sharma said domestic growth improved to 18.4%. The report does not explain the gap between the two numbers. We could not confirm which measure each one uses. Readers can check the company's filing on the BSE or NSE website.
Why spices grew and convenience foods slowed
Sharma spoke to The Hindu BusinessLine. He said the company kept up the double-digit growth it had in the first quarter. He also said Kerala, a market that had been lagging earlier, helped improve both domestic and spices growth.
Convenience foods grew only 7.7%. Sharma linked this to the festival calendar. "Convenience foods growth was a little muted, largely because Diwali was in the second quarter last year," he said. He explained that this created a high base. This year, Diwali falls in the third quarter, in November.
A high base means last year's number was already large, so growth on top of it looks smaller. Here is an example. Say a sweet shop had a very busy Diwali in October last year. If Diwali moves to November this year, its October sales may look weak.
Rising costs and pressure on margins
Costs are the bigger worry. Sharma said prices of sugar, plastic and spices went up. Packaging linked to crude oil also became costlier. He said crude oil crossed $110 a barrel during the quarter. Speculative rises in spice prices added to the pressure.
The company has raised its own prices. But Sharma said, "the full effect of those increases has not yet flowed through to our profit and loss account." He said this also put some pressure on margins. A margin is the share of sales a company keeps as profit after costs.
Sharma added that inflation remains a challenge. He said the company will have to watch world events and how they affect input costs. To follow oil prices, read our story on what Brent crude prices mean for India.
Online sales grow faster
Digital commerce means selling through websites and apps. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, it grew 23% from a year ago, faster than the overall business. It now makes up 10% of domestic revenue. Outside South India, this channel grew 33.6%.
What it means for a common investor
Sales and profit both grew about 19%, which looks healthy. But it helps to ask where the growth came from. Livemint said price increases were a key driver, while volumes stayed weak. Growth that comes from higher prices can be harder to repeat if customers start buying less.
The profit figure is also before exceptional items. These are one-time gains or costs that companies show separately from their normal business. The final reported profit may be different, so check the full results.
Other FMCG companies have also shared their September quarter numbers. You can compare these with Marico's Q2 results and the FMCG numbers in ITC's Q2 results. More company results are on our results page.
Risks to keep in mind
- Input costs: Sugar, packaging and spice prices have risen, and the company says its margins are under pressure.
- Weak volumes: If growth comes mostly from price increases, sales could slow when buyers cut back.
- Dependence on spices: Spices bring in most of the revenue, so a weak spices season would hurt.
- World events: The company said it is watching geopolitical events and their effect on costs.
- Unexplained numbers: The report does not explain the two domestic growth figures (20% and 18.4%).
What to watch next
- Whether Diwali falling in November lifts convenience food sales in the October to December quarter.
- Whether the price increases fully reach profit and ease margin pressure.
- Whether volume growth picks up.
- Whether digital commerce keeps growing faster than the overall business.
Words explained
- Year-on-year: A comparison with the same period last year. Here, July to September 2026 is compared with July to September 2025.
- Revenue from operations: Money earned from the company's main business of selling its products.
- Profit after tax (PAT): The profit left after paying all costs and taxes.
- Exceptional items: One-time gains or costs that are not part of normal business.
- Volume growth: Growth in the quantity of goods sold, not their rupee value.
- Margin: The share of sales a company keeps as profit after costs.
- Input costs: The cost of raw materials like sugar, spices and packaging.
- FMCG: Fast-moving consumer goods, or everyday items people buy often.
- Profit and loss account: A statement that shows a company's income, costs and profit for a period.
Sources: The Hindu BusinessLine, Livemint.
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