Iran conflict disrupts LPG supply, pushing households toward ready-to-eat meals
Le Marche, Amazon India report double-digit surge across urban and smaller markets
Demand spike remains temporary, with staples steady and long-term trends uncertain
The Iran conflict, which has disrupted fuel shipments through key global routes, has changed consumption patterns in India. Industry players are witnessing an uptick in demand for ready-to-eat and packaged foods as LPG shortages tighten cooking gas availability.
An offline retailer, Le Marche, a DS Group entity, has reported a 10-12% increase in sales of convenience foods like instant noodles, frozen snacks since the LPG crisis started across the country. This shows a short-term shift toward low-effort meal options.
2 March 2026
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“We have seen stronger growth in the ready-to-eat and convenience food category compared to frozen snacks. The demand surge is currently concentrated in the NCR market,” said Karan Ahuja, Le Marche Spokesperson.
The rising demand has prompted grocery retailers to stock up on ready-to-eat food items. “We are proactively stocking up on convenience food categories to ensure adequate availability to control the situation. However, it is still too early to draw any long-term conclusions on demand trends”.
E-commerce platforms also mirror the trend but on a wider scale. An Amazon India spokesperson said categories such as instant noodles, juices, nuts and protein-based snacks are seeing strong traction. The company’s grocery business is witnessing healthy demand across metros as well as tier 2 and 3 cities.
The e-commerce major has also pointed to increased usage of ultra-fast delivery for ready-to-eat food items in cities like Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
However, companies remain cautious about reading too much into the current spike. “It is too early to determine any significant shift,” Ahuja said, noting that retailers are increasing inventory to avoid stockouts but long-term demand trends remain uncertain.
He added that the share of demand between households and institutional buyers such as restaurants or cloud kitchens has not materially changed so far.
Interestingly, the demand spike appears to be category-specific rather than uniform across packaged foods. Bikaji Foods International Limited COO Manoj Verma said traditional snack segments like namkeen are seeing stable demand with no visible impact from the LPG shortage.
“There is not as much a swing in demand,” he said, although he cautioned that gas availability constraints could affect production in certain units if the situation persists. Currently, FMCG brands are pointing to a crisis-led consumption pivot rather than a structural reset.
However, if the disruption continues, the current double-digit spike in RTE sales could offer a preview of a larger, longer-term shift toward convenience-driven food consumption in India.
