?Nestle Maggi introduces four new regional flavours on your plate

Nestle India on Thursday reported a 9.59% year-on-year increase in its net profit at Rs 341.76 crore for three months ended December 2018.

The FMCG major has also seen a 12% jump in domestic sales to Rs 2,690.51 crore.

ALSO READ: Nestle Eyes 3% Sales Growth In 2018

“We have, once again, delivered volume-led profitable growth. There has been double-digit growth in almost all the categories, supported by a step-up in demand generating activities including on new products,” said Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & MD, Nestle India by adding that their iconic brands like Maggi, Nescafe, Kitkat, Munch and Everyday continued to deliver strong performances.

The company follows the calendar year as its financial year so its earnings were for the fourth quarter.

The maker of instant Maggie noodles reported an 11.37% y-o-y increase in revenues to Rs 2,897.27 crore in the quarter.

MUST READ: Nestle To Start Ad Campaigns To Gain Trust In Maggi

Nestle’s Ebitda margins for the quarter contracted by 272 bps y-o-y to 19.3%, compared with 22.02% in Q4CY17. Consequently, the Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and ammortisation) decreased by 2.38% y-o-y to Rs 559.2 crore compared with Rs 572.85 crore in Q4CY17.

Cost of materials consumed for the quarter increased by 9.2% to Rs 1,200.36 crore from Rs 1,098.96 crore in Q4CY17.

नेस्ले इंडिया अपने इंस्टेंट नूडल्स मैगी के लिए एक विज्ञापन अभियान जारी करने की योजना बना रही है। इस अभियान में नेस्ले, मैगी के विश्वसनीय तथ्यों के बारे में बताएगी।

दरअसल कल ही सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने सराकर द्वारा राष्ट्रीय उपभोक्ता विवाद निवारण आयोग (एनसीडीआरसी) में स्विस प्रमुख के खिलाफ दर्ज शिकायत मामले में आगे की कार्यवाही करने की अनुमति दी है। इसी के बाद आज नेस्ले ने ये योजना बनाई।

नेस्ले ये अभियान पांच जनवरी से शुरू करेगा।

नेस्ले इंडिया के स्पोकपर्सन ने बताया कि इस अभियान में नेस्ले सभी बड़े अखबारों में मैगी की सेफ्टी और लैब टेस्ट की रिपोर्ट के बारे में बताते हुए विज्ञापन देगा।

उन्होंने आगे बताया, 'एक प्रमाणिक, विश्वसनीय और जिम्मेदार कंपनी होने के नाते हम हमेशा अपने कंज्यूमर से इसके तथ्यों के बारे में साफ, स्पष्ट और सही तरीके से बात करते रहेंगे। ये सब आप हमारे कुछ ही दिनों में छपने वाले प्रिंट विज्ञापन में देख पाएंगे।'

शुरू में सिर्फ तीन दिन के लिए अभियान चलाया जाएगा। इसके बाद कंपनी कंज्यूमर की प्रतिक्रिया पर ध्यान देगी।

Nestle India is planning to release advertisement campaigns highlighting the “trustworthy facts” about its instant noodles brand Maggi.

This comes a day after the Supreme Court revived the class-action suit by the government against the Swiss major in the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).

Nestle is planning to start the campaign from January 5^th.

In the campaign, Nestle would publish a series of advertisements in all leading national newspapers informing the consumers about the safety of Maggi Noodles and the outcome of the lab test reports, which had cleared it for consumption, a Nestle India spokesperson said.

“Our approach as a credible, trustworthy and responsible company is to always communicate with consumers on facts, in a simple, clear and transparent tone and manner... What you will see in the print ads to be released over the next few days is just that,” added the spokesperson cited above.

The campaign would initially be launched for three days and then the company will look at the consumer response.

Nestle India on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's order that allowed NCDRC to proceed with a three-year-old suit with regard to Maggi filed by the government on the basis of laboratory test reports by CFTRI.

The apex court was hearing a case filed by the company against two interim orders passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) in a suit filed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs seeking damages of Rs 640 crore.

"Nestle India welcomes the orders passed by the Supreme Court in Maggi Noodles matter today (Thursday)," the company said in a statement.

The government had moved NCDRC after Nestle's popular instant noodles Maggi was banned by FSSAI in June 2015 for allegedly containing lead beyond permissible limits, forcing the company to withdraw the product from the market.

A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud said the report from CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru), where the testing of the Maggi noodle samples was conducted, will form the basis for the proceedings.

According to Nestle, CFTRI "analysis results showed that samples (of Maggi Noodles) were compliant for lead and other relevant parameters".

However, Nestle India added that "full details will be known only after receipt of the order by the company".

The top court had earlier stayed the proceedings before the NCDRC after Nestle had challenged it.

The consumer affairs ministry had in 2015 filed a complaint against Nestle India before the NCDRC using a provision for the first time in the Consumer Protection Act.

On January 13, 2016, the Supreme Court had directed the NABL-accredited CFTRI to clarify if the results of sample tests on Maggi Noodles show lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) levels to be within permissible limits.

The results were forwarded to the SC on April 11, stating that 29 tested samples showed lead levels within permissible levels.

Nestlé India has inaugurated the first Nestlé Food Safety Institute (NFSI) in India. NFSI India will be an integral part of and will work closely with the Nestlé R&D Centre India and Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Nestlé R&D Centre India, is a part of Nestlé’s longstanding commitment and successful presence in India. NFSI India has been established at the Nestlé R&D Centre India to develop a collaborative approach towards ensuring safe food.

The mission of NFSI India is to build and share knowledge through collaborative partnerships for strengthening the food safety environment in India.

“I would like to congratulate Nestlé and wish them all the best for this initiative. NFSI India will conduct training programs on Food Safety Management Systems, Testing Methods, and Regulatory Standards. We hope this institute will help meet India’s growing demand for safe and healthy food. I believe that there is a need for such institutes to spread awareness on safe and healthy food,” said Pawan Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

NFSI India will serve as the local interface of Nestlé’s Global food safety and research capabilities and will leverage expertise in food safety science to collaborate with reputable academics, government agencies and research institutes in the country.

“We are extremely happy that the pioneering institute for Food Safety set up by Nestlé, has been inaugurated by Mr. Pawan Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and would like to thank him sincerely for encouraging this initiative. I would also like to compliment the Nestlé R&D team who has taken this commendable initiative. The food safety environment in India is changing dynamically and so are the consumers. There is an increasing consciousness among them on the quality of food consumed. We at Nestlé, strongly believe that food has a significant influence on our health and there should be collaborative efforts between regulatory bodies and industry for catering to the health and safety of consumers,” added Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestlé India.

The NFSI India laboratory is equipped with high-end analytical technology and is an integral part of the global network of food safety experts at Nestlé.

Nestle India is exploring ways to bring some products from its 2,000 global brands to the country and also reduce dependency on a single brand, a top company official has said.

Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestle India, said, "We have 2,000 brands globally and we will be exploring ways to bring some of them to this market. We are also looking at reducing the dependency on a single brand by ensuring all categories contribute to the overall growth."

Nestle hopes to be part of the consumer journey through life, by enhancing the nutrition credentials of its many brands, fortifying those that are relevant and addressing in a small yet significant way the health issues facing the society, he added.

He said, "The year 2016 will always remain a very important in our history as we bounced back to business after the Maggi noodles incident. But the trust in our brand Maggi noodles enabled us to quickly regain leadership position with 60 per cent market share."

Nestle India is strengthening its milk products and nutrition portfolio along with expanding coffee and beverages portfolio in the domestic market. It is also looking at more offerings in the chocolate and confectionery portfolio.

Nestle, one of the world's biggest foods companies, has decided to transform its products to a much healthier version. Nestle had made a commitment last week to make healthier products, for which it is reducing salt and sodium content in its Maggi noodles, cutting sugar by about 10% in KitKat chocolate and dairy products, and stepping up portion control in Munch chocolates.

Nestle will extend its ‘health drive’ to other product categories as well. It will now make low-sugar and low-salt variant for dairy items such as yoghurt and infant cereal, Cerelac.

Nestle SA has announced a series of global commitments to reduce sugars, sodium, saturated fats and trans-fats, introduce nutritious products, step up food fortification, remove artificial colours, restrict marketing to children, step up nutrition data on packs at points of sale and online, and disseminate information on portion control.

Nestle has said that over 99% of fats and oils in its foods and beverages, starting January 1 this year, will not contain trans-fats across products and markets.

Nestle has also made a statement to reduce added sugar by 5% and sodium by 10% by 2020.

Ceregrow, Nestle’s cereal brand for children, fortified with iron and fruit, and Milo health drink with less than 10% sucrose per pack are being placed in stores now. The company is working on similar options in other product categories.

A statement on the Nestle website reads, "We will extend our guidance on portions to our consumer recipes, and relevant teenager and adult products by 2020."

It also says that by the same year, it will remove all artificial colours from its products.

Nestle has said that from January 1 this year, over 99% of fats and oils in its foods and beverages will not contain trans-fats across products and markets. By 2020, it will reduce added sugar by 5% and sodium by 10%.

Foods maker Nestle India has reported a net profit decline of 8.66 percent year on year at Rs 167.3 crore for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2016.

The maker of Maggi noodles and KitKat chocolates said in an earnings statement that its sales had increased 16.17 percent to Rs 2,261.2 crore.

"Net domestic sales for the quarter have been impacted by the withdrawal of high denomination currency notes in circulation," the company said in a statement.

The India arm of the Swiss foods maker said results for the quarter and full year ended 31st December, 2016 are not entirely comparable with the results of the corresponding periods due to Maggi noodles withdrawal in 2015.

Nestle chairman Suresh Narayanan said the company had regained leadership in the noodles category with close to 60 percent market share. "Innovation and renovation has been the key platform for Nestle and the year saw us launch over 30 new products and variants, across all categories," he added.

National food regulator Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had banned Maggi in June 2015 following allegations that the popular snack contained lead in excess of permissible levels and that there was mislabeling related to flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG).

Patanjali Ayurved, the FMCG venture promoted by yoga guru Ramdev said it has received notice from food safety regulator FSSAI, which had accused it of launching instant noodles without approval, reported PTI.

"We have received notice from FSSAI today and we will give reply to it," said a company spokesperson.

Last week Central Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had said Patanjali did not have approval for its newly-launched instant noodles but the company had strongly denied it.

Ashish Bahuguna, FSSAI Chairperson had stated that no approval or licence was granted to Patanjali for its instant noodles and for instant noodles companies needed to take prior approval. He had said Patanjali Ayurved have not taken approval for it.

However, Patanjali, strongly denied FSSAI's claims and insisted that it has licence for Pasta, under which noodles fall, as per the regulator's classification.

The company further said FSSAI has already admitted that it was no longer possible for the regulator to continue with process of product approvals, which was facilitated through an advisory in May 2013, following a Supreme Court order in August this year that upheld an order of Bombay High Court on the issue.

According to FSSAI's May 2013 advisory, food products covering a broad spectrum including "novel foods, functional foods, food supplements, irradiated foods, genetically modified foods, foods for special dietary uses or extracts or concentrates of botanicals, herbs or of animal sources" should apply for product approval.

The High Court had ruled that the advisory does not have any statutory backing but the FSSAI had approached the apex court against the verdict.

Patanjali had launched 'Atta Noodles' earlier this month in 70 gram packs priced at Rs 15, claiming to be cheaper than competitors, with an eye to take on market leader Nestle's Maggi, which returned to the shelves five months after FSSAI had banned it.