After what has been a “challenging period” for the company since India’s dominant noodle brand was ordered off shelves in the summer, “there is a feeling of satisfaction at bringing back Maggi noodles to the market”, Nestlé’s Delhi office said in a triumphal statement.
On June 5, India’s food regulator, the FSSAI, ordered nine lines of Maggi to be removed from India's shelves after one state food standards agency announced the product contained excess levels of lead and monosodium glutamate after it tested a sample.
Two months later, Bombay high court, which Nestlé had petitioned to overturn the regulator’s ban, ruled that the FSSAI had “acted in an emergent, drastic and arbitrary” fashion in ordering Nestlé to withdraw its noodles from the shelves.
It was not until last month, however, that Nestlé was given the all-clear after subsequent testing found no traces of lead in the product.
FSSAI’s intervention led, according to Nestlé’s chairman, Peter Brabeck, to the disposal by the company of 29,000 tonnes of noodles at the regulator’s behest.
Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director, called Maggi’s return “a moment of celebration for all of us”.
“Maggi noodles has a very special relationship and strong emotional bond with its consumers across the country and I am confident that our bonds will grow even stronger,” he said.
“On behalf of over 7,000 Nestlé India employees, I would like to thank all our suppliers, distributors, retailers, and millions of consumers from every corner of India and overseas for their support, love, reassurance, and for being there during our difficult period.
“Maggi noodles rightfully belongs to them and I feel happy to be able to give back to them their familiar taste during the auspicious and festive Diwali season.”
Narayanan said Nestlé was working with its channel partners to distribute the noodles “at the earliest”.
Separately, Nestlé India has partnered with e-commerce major Snapdeal to roll out online offers to mark the relaunch.
However, Nestlé continues to “engage” with eight states that continue to ban the product, including Punjab and much of the northeastern region.
Restocking will begin through 300 retailers in 100 towns and cities across India, covering 30-40% of the market, Narayanan told Mint. “What takes 6-8 weeks was done in 8-10 days,” he added.
Until the FSSAI ban, Maggi accounted for around one-third of Nestlé India’s revenue. It is now emerging that the move has had a knock-on effect on consumer confidence in the company’s other products.
Last month, Nestlé sales of milk products, infant foods, chocolates and beverages in India had declined around 9% year-on-year, though analysts expect to see growth in these segments in coming months.
Chocolate industry’s double-digit growth expected to continue
India’s chocolate market has grown at an annual rate of 16% over the last seven years, and predictions by Research & Markets suggest this rise will continue at a CAGR of almost 11% until 2021 at least.
The industry has a positive outlook due to exceptional growth in the confectionery industry, rising per capita income and the gifting culture in the country, R&M’s report said.
The per capita consumption of chocolates has almost doubled between 2005 and 2012, led by changes in consumers' preferences and lifestyle, eating habits, and their global exposure to international brands.
Milk chocolate accounts for the majority of the chocolate market’s revenues, though the growing popularity of dark chocolate is expected to affect milk chocolate’s share in the near future.
Premium chocolate’s market share is also expected to increase by up to 45% in the overall chocolate market as purchasing power and disposable incomes rise.
Cadbury, Nestlé and Ferrero are the leading players in the market with the former two companies together accounting for most of the chocolate market.
However, Ferrero is expected to overtake Nestlé in the next few years with the increasing popularity of Ferrero Rocher and Kinder Joy.
Quarter of Bangladeshi women obese
At the same time as more than 60% of children in Bangladesh suffer from severe acute malnutrition, the number of women who are overweight or obese has reached a “staggering” 24%, an senior scientist has revealed.
This figure has grown from 9% in 2004, 12% in 2007 and 17% in 2011 Tahmeed Ahmed of the International Centre for Diarrhoea Disease Research said.
Speaking in Dhaka, Dr Ahmed blamed the government’s focus on nutrition as a standalone issue, rather than a wide-reaching one that was also related to agriculture, health, education and urbanisation.
"I see one major gap with regard to success of the nutrition agenda,” he said. “Upward aspiration is dominating the policy agenda. We need to see nutrition not only from poverty end but to connect it with the upward aspiration."