Manish Tiwary, who took over as Chairman & Managing Director of Nestle India in August, has made increasing the company’s giant brands’ penetration and increasing productivity via the use of technology his primary priority.
The packaged food giant, whose brands were previously thought to be mostly urban-focused, is now concentrating on making a significant push into rural markets nationwide. Tiwary stated that the business views India as a market with enormous development potential, where it has spent ₹3,900 crore in only the last two fiscal years, at a time when its parent company, Nestle SA, has announced global job losses as part of its cost-saving initiatives.
What are the main goals you have for Nestle India?
I believe the business is doing extremely well, and I want to speed up this process. We have a few distinctive yet extremely big brands. Because of this, we are in a great position to place such large, audacious bets behind these huge brands. In order to improve investments in our brands and increase category penetration, my objective is to concentrate on how we use technology to achieve efficiency in our system.
For us, being quick, adaptable, and focused is essential. In every category, customers, particularly the younger generation, are consuming a far wider variety of goods than they were ten years ago. Simultaneously, customers are growing more health-conscious and picky about what is said on the packaging. In that sense, I believe our brands are in a great position. Customers desire more options at the same time. While reducing the innovation to launch cycle by up to 70%, we have digitized our production processes. In order to improve this agility, technology will be crucial.
Whether it is the top 30–40 million families at the premium end or the vast number of customers in rural areas, I am also thrilled about the possibility on both ends of the spectrum. We have a lot of space to increase the penetration of our brands. My main focus will be on how we use technology to promote optimization as the foundation for this possibility.
Urban slowdown has been a source of concern. Has urban demand recovered, and is demand increasing as a result of the advantages of the GST rate cut?
Our businesses have benefited from GST rate reductions, and certain goods have seen significant price drops. The 40,000 partners who have been with Nestle for a long time, in addition to our own employees, handled the GST changeover quite well.
Thus, food industries have been severely impacted by commodity inflation, which has also affected volumes. In the past, there were a few quarters when markets were weak, with urban areas being the most negatively impacted. Even urban value growth is increasing in the food and beverage industry today, but rural growth is still outpacing urban development. However, even after two quarters of double-digit increase for our categories, the full impact of the GST advantages has not yet been seen in those figures.
In my opinion, the GST rate reduction were timely, and based on the short-term prognosis for commodities, there will be more volume than price increase in all categories during the first half of 2026.
Global layoffs are among the cost-cutting initiatives outlined by Nestle SA. What effect will this have on Indian operations?
Nestle sees enormous development potential in the Indian market. In addition to growing the consumer products company, we are also growing Nestle Business Services, the back-end processing center, and Nestle IT hub, our R&D center. Investments in all three will increase over time. These three organizations will expand in addition to the company’s consumer goods division.
Cost optimization and cost reducing are quite different from one another. Our main business is our portfolio of big brands, but we are also gradually starting new ventures including pet care, Nestle Professional, and Nespresso. To manage both sides of our business, I need talented people. We have invested about ₹3,900 crore in the last two fiscal years. We will continue to invest in people and brands.
Will the future growth plan heavily rely on rural markets?
Only over 15% of Nestle India’s business comes from rural areas. Although there are development prospects in both rural and urban areas, our firm will undoubtedly expand far more quickly in rural areas. As government programs spread, rural areas’ disposable income is increasing.
Both rural and urban regions have the same aspirational levels. We are now able to maintain pricing points of ₹5 and ₹10 across all categories thanks to the GST advantages. In terms of our reach in rural regions, we have established the proper infrastructure, and technology has made it possible for even the tiniest retailers to use tools like NesMitra. We need to keep concentrating on providing the brands in our portfolio at the appropriate price points, which is where the cost optimization plan comes in.
In the past, Nestle India has considered a few possible acquisitions. Will future growth depend on inorganic growth?
There is a ton of space for expansion when we examine the penetration rates of any of our brands or categories. Now, you may need pricing points, regional tastes, flavor variations, or whatever else that helps us drive this penetration. Therefore, if a purchase is pertinent and closes a gap in our portfolio, we are willing to consider it. Last year, Nestle S.A. made an investment in Drools, a pet food brand that is important to us globally.
How is the fast commerce channel becoming more and more important?
Every channel has a different pricing structure, and each offers advantages and disadvantages. Since all of the channels provide us with a path to the market, the customer comes first. I believe that customers now have more options thanks to rapid commerce in the supermarket industry. Service speed is increasingly crucial for the top 30–40 million consumers. Given the expense of shipping, pricing may not be significant for them. In my opinion, rapid commerce presents a special opportunity for urban conglomerates.
