Five-minute frenzy for two-minute noodles: 60,000 Maggi kits sold out in sale on Snapdeal

New Delhi: It took just 5 minutes for 60,000 welcome kits of Maggi to be sold out on Snapdeal as consumers thronged the e-commerce platform to lap up their 2-minute instant noodles. Earlier this week, Snapdeal had announced that it will sell Nestle’s Maggi via a unique “flash sale model” as the noodles brand made a comeback after a gap of five months. Maggi was banned after it was allegedly found to have lead content beyond permissible limits. [caption id=“attachment_2504240” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo. Image courtesy: AFP[/caption] “Snapdeal sold out the first batch of 60,000 Maggi Welcome Kits within 5 minutes of Maggi Flash Sale going live. There has been much anticipation for the return of one of the favourite Indian brands and we have witnessed a phenomenal response to this sale from customers across the country,” Snapdeal Senior Vice President (Partnerships and Strategic initiatives) Tony Navin said. Flash sales or deal-of-the-day is an e-commerce business model in which a website offers a single product for sale for a limited period of time. Potential customers have to register to avail the deal. A new batch of Maggi WelcomeKits will be on sale from 16 November. Maggi has been relaunched in 100 towns through 300-odd distributors and is being rolled out in a staggered manner across the country, except in eight states where it is still not allowed. The popular brand of noodles had passed tests by three government-accredited laboratories, as ordered by the Bombay High Court which in August had lifted ban on the instant noodles that was imposed by food safety regulators. Maggi was banned in June by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) which stated that it was “unsafe and hazardous” for consumption due to presence of lead beyond permissible limits. The company had withdrawn the noodles brand from the market. Reliance Fresh CEO Damodar Mall said: “On Dhanteras, the first invoice for Maggi in the country was made available to Reliance Retail’s Kolkata distribution centre by Nestle…Stocks are flying off the shelves at the moment.” By this weekend, Maggi noodles will be available at all stores of the company, he added. “We expect to reach proper availability levels in about four weeks,” said Mall, adding that Nestle has shared all clearances given to it by state governments. “We have activated base quantities for the stores, resulting in a regular purchase order for Maggi now. Three packs are being supplied in this phase.” The Maggi ban prompted manufacturers, including Patanjali, to launch their noodles to grab some market share. “Patanjali noodles, in the meantime, have also been launched in some northern markets to a good response,” he said. Nestle has resumed selling of Maggi except in eight states where it is still not allowed - Punjab, Odisha, Manipur, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. PTI