Maggi Ban: The Packaged Food Industry in a Dilemma


BANGALORE: With the ban on Nestlé’s Maggi noodles it is evident that there is a reduced purchase of packaged food in the country. The Maggi controversy has affected all the other packaged food brands since it was a widely used brand, reports The Economic Times.

According to the IMRB data it is stated that there is a 9 percent decline in the purchase of ready to cook food and 4 percent decline in the beverages purchase. The overall food segment growth has been declined to 4 percent as compared with the 9 percent in the previous year

Chief executive officer of foods and personal care maker Dabur, Sunil Duggal stated that "Maggi is such a huge brand that anything that drags it down impacts sentiments of packaged foods in general, Seasonality played a role early and erratic rains impacted beverage sales, including that of juices."

It is said that there are various factors affecting the low sales of packaged food industry, such as seasonal change, price change and more over the questions rose on a most reliable product. Thus all the global brands are in a hurry to make sure the quality of their products.

The deputy manager of Parle, Krishna Rao said that, "Companies had to shift focus on assuring consumers that their product quality met all standards," whereas managing director at Britannia industries, Varun Berry said "Overall, the consumer sentiment in packaged foods across categories has been impacted negatively in the quarter. Recent controversies around the foods sector had an impact on the sector,"

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