Nestle India has re-launched Maggi Noodles Masala not only in select outlets in 100 towns with 300 distributors, but also tied up with e-commerce portal Snapdeal.
This, it believes, will help increase the reach of Maggi, which is still awaiting necessary clearances in eight States — Bihar, Punjab, Odisha, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The company, however, is clear that the e-commerce portal will not cater to these States.
Speaking to reporters,
He said the initial response was overwhelming with reports of stocks being sold out at outlets within a few hours of launch.
As regards the Maggi Oats Noodles variant, he said nothing stops the company from re-launching, as the requirement for an approval for this category has been withdrawn by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). “It will take time before we are available across the four million outlets that we were present in before this crisis. We are focusing on expanding the distribution of Maggi to core towns, outlets and increasing the depth of the availability,” Narayanan said.
The company, which has started manufacturing at three locations, is also talking with the authorities to start production at its other two plants at Pantnagar and Tahliwal.
To up marketing spend He said marketing spends will go up significantly as the company will focus on reassuring the consumers about the product’s safety across traditional and digital media.
Narayanan said the ongoing class-action suit filed by the government at the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is unfortunate but the company will defend itself as it’s confident about the safety of Maggi.