Indian biscuit maker Parle Products recorded a surge in the sale of Parle-G during the coronavirus-enforced restrictions in April and May, PTI reported on Wednesday. Mayank Shah, category head at Parle, said the company gained a market share of around 5% as more people worked from home and stocked up the biscuits for consumption.

Parle-G biscuits were also preferred by government agencies and non-governmental organisations working to distribute food packages to people amid the pandemic, Shah said. “The growth was phenomenal and as a result, Parle was able to increase its market share by 4.5% to 5% during the lockdown,” he added. “This is one of the highest in the recent [times]. At least in last 30 to 40 years, we have not seen this kind of growth.”

Parle, founded in 1929, employs about 1,00,000 people, including direct and contract workers across 10 company-owned facilities and 125 contract manufacturing plants. Shah said he has never witnessed such a demand for Parle-G in his 20 years of working with the company.

The category head said Parle-G’s consumption during times of uncertainty has increased in the past too. “That is the kind of trust people depose in the brand,” he said, adding that the biscuit’s long shelf life was also the reason people preferred to buy it.

The company, however, refused to share specific sales figures, The Economic Times reported. They said March, April and May may have been their best months in over eight decades.