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Business News/ Companies / News/  Maggi relaunch to start with ‘big hitters’: Nestle India MD
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Maggi relaunch to start with ‘big hitters’: Nestle India MD

Nestle India will use print, TV, billboards and a lot of digital media for the relaunch of its popular noodles brand

Nestle India suffered a Rs450 crore hit because of the ban. Photo: BloombergPremium
Nestle India suffered a Rs450 crore hit because of the ban. Photo: Bloomberg

Mumbai: Nestle India Ltd will bring Maggi back to the market by relaunching what it terms the “big hitters" first—these are six of the nine variants of the instant noodles brand.

Following the Bombay high court ruling of 13 August that set aside the 5 June ban imposed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) as being arbitrary and “a violation of natural justice", Nestle is now hopeful that the brand will be back on shelves by end of the year. The high court had directed that the testing of the samples be done in a period of six weeks starting 5 September.

“We will come out with the big hitters first. That’s what consumers want. Then (we will) look at other opportunities, as time evolves and regulatory clarity (for product approvals) comes in," said Suresh Narayanan, managing director, Nestle India, at a media round table in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Narayanan, who was parachuted from the Philipines to head Nestle India, said the company is working on the relaunch strategy.

Narayanan did not share details of the spends or the celebrities who could endorse the brand. The packaging, too, would more or less remain unchanged, he added.

Nestle India, which took a 450 crore hit because of the ban, will use traditional media (print and TV), billboards and a lot of digital media. It has already released three short videos on its official YouTube channel Meri Maggi in the last week of August. The company will also launch a toll free 24/7 consumer hotline.

Meanwhile, with the country’s largest noodles brand off the shelves, yoga guru Ramdev has launched his own brand of atta noodles from his consumer packaged foods company, the Patanjali Group. These noodles are a healthy alternative to Maggi noodles, Ramdev claimed.

ITC Ltd, maker of Yipee noodles, has launched a fresh campaign for its noodles, focusing on the safe and hygienic environment and quality standards the company uses in manufacturing the product.

Nestle’s problems began in March 2014 when a regional lab in Uttar Pradesh found monosodium glutamate in a sample of its hugely popular noodles. However, the ban came in more than a year later after laboratories in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand conducted tests and decided to ban the product. Before passing the ban order, FSSAI collected 72 samples from across the country and said it found excess lead in 30 of them. Samples of the product are now being retested again at three accredited laboratories. Their results will decide whether the company can relaunch Maggi. Nestle India is confident the products will clear the tests.

The government has also filed a class action suit against the Indian arm of Nestle SA, seeking 640 crore in damages for alleged unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements.

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Published: 09 Sep 2015, 07:26 PM IST
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