New Delhi: On a fateful day of June 5, 2015, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) announced the order banning the popular Noodles brand Maggi owned by Nestle India in the country for containing excessive lead and mislabeling related to harmful monosodium glutamate content in its packets.  


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It was a big blow to Nestle India as Maggi was the top cash-making brand with a market around Rs 2000 crore annual sales in the Noodles segment in the country. It had a market share over 80%. The company suffered extreme losses worth over Rs 500 crores as they were forced to remove Maggi from the shelves.


Return Of Maggi


The Bomaby HC struck down the national wide ban on August 13, 2015 and ordered the fresh tests within six weeks. Then, Chairman and Managing director Suresh Narayanan came as a saviour of Maggi, bringing back Noodles brand its crowning position and building the trust among customers once again. Maggi was relaunched in the market after a five-year embargo.  


In the second quarter of financial year 2023-24, Nestle India reported its net profit up by 36.9% at Rs 698.34, with prepared dishes and cooking aids witnessed double-digit growth driven by Maggi Noodles and aided through distribution expansion and impactful consumer activites.


Let’s dive deep into this intriguing but learning tale in a crisis management and how a person’s ingenuity and presence of mind had offset the biggest nightmare for the company and regained the brand’s image.


Suresh Narayanan is the current chairman and managing director of Nestle India, a position he's held since August 2015. He's known for turning things around when the company faced a tough time. Suresh joined the company Nestle India as MD in 2008 and went to the post of the chairman and managing director. He completed his graduation and masters in Economics from SRCC and Delhi school of economics, respectively.  


So, how did he steer the company through its worst crisis?


To overcome this challenging period, he began running campaigns that touched people's hearts. These campaigns aimed to rebuild trust and faith in the brand, especially targeting mothers and young adults. Some of the well-known campaigns included 'We miss you Maggi' and 'Midnight Cooking was back.' They emphasized that Maggi was back and safe to eat, having passed all safety tests.


These efforts paid off, and Maggi's sales started to climb as people began to trust the brand again. In less than a year, they had recaptured 60% of the market.


But Suresh didn't stop there. Over the past eight years, Nestle India introduced various new products and innovations. They expanded the Maggi range with different flavors and introduced products like Oat Flakes, Nescafe Black Roast, and Chicken65 Masala Noodles. Suresh also brought in technology and data-led decision-making, moving away from traditional hierarchy-based decision-making.


In 2019, they initiated Project Midas, focusing on innovation and distribution based on data from specific regions. With data analysis, they could target different demographics in cities, localities, households, and outlets more effectively.


Under Suresh's leadership, Nestle India also improved its supply chain. Inside the company, he's known as a leader who values people and their well-being. So, Suresh Narayanan not only navigated the company through its toughest times but also helped it grow and adapt to the changing market.