Nestle India wants to become ‘a breakfast company’
07 Aug 2018
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Swiss major Nestle, which is widely known in India for its Maggi noodles and Nestle instant coffee, aims to become ‘a breakfast company,’ with a range of cereals, coffee, yogurts and noodles for consumers in the country.
Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director, Nestle India, told reporters that the company offers several breakfast products in India now. It launched Nesplus, a brand owned by Nestle Breakfast Cereals, which is part of Cereal Partners Worldwide, a joint venture between Nestle SA and General Mills of the US.
Besides Nesplus, which was launched in India recently, it also offers coffee, yogurt, oats, noodles or milk, he said. “We have a global portfolio of about 2,000 brands, but in India we are operating with a truncated portfolio of just 20 brands,” pointed out Narayanan. “While we are focussing on increasing the number of products and brands, we are also looking at growing the depth of our product range, where we see strong organic growth opportunities.”
The Swiss company faced a crisis in India about three years ago when the food regulator imposed a ban on its Maggi instant noodles – its largest revenue earner in the country – for the alleged presence of monosodium glutamate and excess lead.
Narayanan said the company was still to reach the pre-crisis level of sales, but in terms of market share, it had crossed the 60 per cent mark. Maggi instant noodles and other related products account for about 30 per cent of the company’s sales in India.
Nestle India now plans to launch Maggi dips, special masala noodles and Kitkat Desert Delight brownie Kubes, besides premium, international coffee labels.
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