A section of distributors and retailers of Nestle’s popular noodle brand Maggi have sought more time from the company to implement the recall, while others felt that they should get compensation for the sales loss.
Following the detection of high levels of lead and MSG in samples of the noodles, Nestle has been forced to initiate the recall.
Distributors have been asked by Nestle India to repackage these packets batch wise and return.
Dhairyashil Patil, President, All-India Consumer Products Distributors Federation, said, “Distributors are trying to meet the deadline of June 9, as asked by the company. But it is not feasible as the volumes are huge. We have written to Nestle to give us time till Saturday.”
Patil told BusinessLine that distributors are being reimbursed by the company for the cost incurred for recall – mainly compensation for logistics.
Compensation sought But a section of the distributors felt that they should be compensated for the sales volume loss because of the recall.
Shyam Prasad Menon, President, Federation of South Indian Distributor Association’s representing Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Puducherry, said, “For Maggi distributors, it is a big portion of sales revenues. We are requesting the company to compensate for this loss because of this recall.”
A Nestle India spokesperson said that “various actions are being implemented and we hope to keep the effects of this disruption to a minimum, for retailers, for distributors, for shopkeepers and for our employees.”