India's a call-out market, but there's room to grow: Nestle

New Delhi: India is a "call-out" market for Maggi noodles and KitKat chocolate, Nestle SA's global chief executive Philipp Navratil said on Thursday, even as the company said 37% of urban households in the country buy Maggi every month, up from 24% in 2016.

The Swiss packaged foods maker is directing focused investment towards these "billionaire brands" in India, Navratil told investors during its September quarter post-earnings call.

Nestle in a presentation said the instant noodles category is growing at more than twice the rate of the overall food segment in India, "driven by convenience and frequent consumption occasions."


There is room to grow penetration and frequency even in large established markets like India, Nestle said.

"At the same time, consumers, particularly younger consumers, are looking to world cuisine for bolder flavours," Navratil said. "We are capturing this opportunity through Korean and ramen ranges."

India is among Nestle SA's top five emerging markets with annualised sales of at least 1 billion Swiss francs, alongside China, Brazil, Mexico and Philippines, the company said in its presentation. "Organic growth was strong and broad based across most country-category combinations, with India, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore delivering double-digit growth," the company said.

Nestle India saw 20% on-year rise in September quarter revenue to ₹6,788 crore, but flagged food inflation and commodity cost pressures as key concerns. Stock fell 7.76% on October 15, the day of the earnings. It had said "rising inflation, particularly food inflation, is a reality" and warned of a challenging environment amid higher costs of key raw materials such as edible oils, cocoa and sugar.

Nestle India had posted sales of ₹23,071.5 crore for FY26. Nestle SA said EMs remained the strongest part of its business, with real-internal-growth well above 4%.

The global leadership's upbeat comments on India come amid increased regulatory scrutiny of packaged food companies over alleged misleading labelling and ingredient claims, and advertising violations. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India issued notices to Nestle India over labelling and claims on certain variations of Nescafe beverages and infant foods Lactogen Pro 1 Powder and Nan Excella Pro Stage 1. Nestle has said its products "are safe to consume and meet all applicable food safety requirements."