The company is trying to come out of its biggest crisis ever, says Suresh Narayanan
New Delhi: Nestle India is working on a three-to-five-year plan to ensure it no longer has to depend on any single product or brand for revenues, new chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan said, unveiling revival plans for the company following the crisis involving its Maggi instant noodles.
The company will add coffee and chocolates to diversify its line of food and drinks, drawing a lesson from the health and safety scare surrounding Maggi noodles, which accounted for 30% of Nestle India’s revenue in 2014.
Narayanan was sent to India in July amid a ballooning controversy after the regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) banned Maggi on 5 June, citing the presence of monosodium glutamate and excess lead.
He spoke in an interview on the sidelines of the second graduation ceremony of the Bridge School of Management. Edited excerpts:.
You managed to relaunch Maggi noodles much before planned. How soon do you think you will be able to bring down the dependence on Maggi noodles?
The company is trying to come out of its biggest crisis ever and that Maggi noodles has come back to the shelves is a huge achievement for the team, for all the partners and for all the stakeholders. When I came, my mandate was not just to get Maggi noodles back on the shelves by the end of the year, but also to really revive the other parts of company fully, which also suffered because of what happened.
We are now working on a three-to-five-year plan. Reducing dependence on Maggi noodles, or any single brand or product, is part of that. Over the next three to five years, things will be different.
What could the areas of focus be for the new Nestle in the making?
The focus would be coffee and beverages. Chocolates and confectionery is another clear area of focus for us. So, these two are certain, in addition to a greater acceleration of our portfolio in milk, nutrition and all of it.
These are great areas of opportunity for us. I am really trying to sort of click all the buttons to get us back into the double-digit growth that would be led by volume. I am a great believer of volume-led growth as being the stimulant for accelerating brands, consumption and presence in the market.
Maggi noodles was out of the market for six months. It did impact your profits. How much will you be able to recover in the current quarter?
We reported loss only in the second quarter of 2015. Even in the last quarter, we posted profit. Profitability always remains. We are a profitable company, and we will continue to be profitable. We will still be of interest to the people who are looking at medium-to-long term growth.
Nestle India is a respectable brand and has a respectable position in the society. In India, I think that would be the promise that Nestle, I hope, is capable of giving under my leadership.
What changes you had to make within the organization to ensure a better future?
One, I have tried to change the commercial structure. It has become a lot more focused and hopefully quicker to respond. We have also improved our consumer engagement services and practices. And I am very proud to say that we have 24x7 consumer engagement mechanism across different vectors, both digital and non-digital.
New Delhi: Nestle India is working on a three-to-five-year plan to ensure it no longer has to depend on any single product or brand for revenues, new chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan said, unveiling revival plans for the company following the crisis involving its Maggi instant noodles.
The company will add coffee and chocolates to diversify its line of food and drinks, drawing a lesson from the health and safety scare surrounding Maggi noodles, which accounted for 30% of Nestle India’s revenue in 2014.
Narayanan was sent to India in July amid a ballooning controversy after the regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) banned Maggi on 5 June, citing the presence of monosodium glutamate and excess lead.
He spoke in an interview on the sidelines of the second graduation ceremony of the Bridge School of Management. Edited excerpts:.
You managed to relaunch Maggi noodles much before planned. How soon do you think you will be able to bring down the dependence on Maggi noodles?
The company is trying to come out of its biggest crisis ever and that Maggi noodles has come back to the shelves is a huge achievement for the team, for all the partners and for all the stakeholders. When I came, my mandate was not just to get Maggi noodles back on the shelves by the end of the year, but also to really revive the other parts of company fully, which also suffered because of what happened.
We are now working on a three-to-five-year plan. Reducing dependence on Maggi noodles, or any single brand or product, is part of that. Over the next three to five years, things will be different.
What could the areas of focus be for the new Nestle in the making?
The focus would be coffee and beverages. Chocolates and confectionery is another clear area of focus for us. So, these two are certain, in addition to a greater acceleration of our portfolio in milk, nutrition and all of it.
These are great areas of opportunity for us. I am really trying to sort of click all the buttons to get us back into the double-digit growth that would be led by volume. I am a great believer of volume-led growth as being the stimulant for accelerating brands, consumption and presence in the market.
Maggi noodles was out of the market for six months. It did impact your profits. How much will you be able to recover in the current quarter?
We reported loss only in the second quarter of 2015. Even in the last quarter, we posted profit. Profitability always remains. We are a profitable company, and we will continue to be profitable. We will still be of interest to the people who are looking at medium-to-long term growth.
Nestle India is a respectable brand and has a respectable position in the society. In India, I think that would be the promise that Nestle, I hope, is capable of giving under my leadership.
What changes you had to make within the organization to ensure a better future?
One, I have tried to change the commercial structure. It has become a lot more focused and hopefully quicker to respond. We have also improved our consumer engagement services and practices. And I am very proud to say that we have 24x7 consumer engagement mechanism across different vectors, both digital and non-digital.
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