Nestle may roll out 25 new products

New Delhi, June 20: Having 'weathered' the Maggi storm, Nestle India is embarking on a product offensive, launching up to 25 products across various categories to fend off' disruptive competition' from new rivals like Patanjali.

The company, which now claims 55.5% share in the instant noodles market, however, says financially it could take a few more quarters to fully overcome the R500-crore hit it took because of the ban on Maggi last year.

“We have weathered the storm, although we still have two cases pending in the court. Now it is the time to ride the wave,” Nestle India chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan said.

For this Nestle India is focusing on rejuvenation of existing brands, adding new products and entering into new categories targeting a wide range of consumer segment from babies, to youth to women and adults in urban markets.

Elaborating on the company's new product launch programme, Narayanan said: “There are about 20-25 product launches, some of them have happened, some are happening and some will happen in four to six weeks time. This is probably the single largest window of new product launches in a long time.” The new products include seven variants of Maggi noodles, Greek yogurt brand 'Grekyo' and protein growth brand 'Pro-Gro' in dairy segment, besides multiple products in chocolate and confectionery, as also new offerings in

We have weathered the storm, although we still have two cases pending in the court. Now it is the time to ride the wave SURESH NARAYANAN, chairman & MD, Nestle India

coffee and tea.

“We are trying to look at product concepts that are differentiators. The launches are multitargeted in terms of consumer base that we are looking at,” he said. Stating that the company has also shortened the time for launching new products to 4-6 monthsfrom12-15monthsearlier to keep pace with the changing dynamics in the market, Narayanan said: “Today the urban Indian consumers are changing quite rapidly, their tastes are changing.”

When asked about competitionfrom Bab a Ram dev' s Pat anj ali Ayurved, Narayanan said: “Thatisthekindof competition we would positively call disruptive competition. They come and redefine the rules of the game...” PTI