A two-minute solution? Nestle working on a new mystery replacement for Maggi

Nestle after their recent woes with Maggi in India are developing a new secret replacement and they are keeping their cards pretty close to the heart. So far.

Nestle’s scientists are currently hard at work trying to come up with an alternative according to media reports but there is still little known about this mystery product.

“With no clarity over when Maggi in its existing form will be back on shelves, Nestle is working on alternate snacking options,” said one of the persons who confirmed the development to the Economic Times . “Snacking is a huge opportunity which Nestle doesn’t want to vacate, and it already has an existing backend for the culinary business.”

But before you get too excited the product will take a while to hit the shelves and that’s if it passes the strict clearances. It is still unclear is if this will be available as a ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook food.

“We are working hard to resolve the situation and we aim to be back in the market as soon as we can. Adhering to Nestle’s rigorous quality policies and testing protocol, we are confident that we will come back soon, ensuring food safety, as we always do,” the Nestle spokesperson said to ET .

Analysts see a 50 percent decline in volume growth of Nestle India’s ready-to-eat food products in 2015, before recovering to 100 percent next year, reported IB Times .

Nestle as damage control has roped in US-based public relations firm APCO Worldwide and has also brought back Shivani Hegde, who now heads its Sri Lankan operations, to India, say media reports. The move comes in the wake of the criticism that the controversy was an epic PR disaster for the company, which has been in India for many decades now, and more states banning the product.

Surprisingly, this week Nestle’s shares have rebounded after their catastrophic drop at the height of the controversy.

Nestle India’s share prices traded at Rs 6,059.95 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Wednesday (24 June), recovering from a low Rs 5,539.80 recorded on 8 June.

A drop in Maggi sales is expected to have a major impact on Nestle India’s performance, as the noodles account for 20 percent of the company’s overall revenues, NDTV Profit  reported in the past.

The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) ordered the recall of Maggi noodles on 5 June after tests showed lead in excess of permissible limits besides mislabelling with regard to monosodium glutamate (MSG) content. The exercise, one of the biggest in the history of packaged foods in India, involving the withdrawal of Maggi noodles worth Rs 320 crore, or 27,420 tonnes of stock, and destroying the contents.

PTI also reported that FSSAI had also ordered testing of noodles, pastas and macaroni brands such as Top Ramen, Foodles and Wai Wai sold and manufactured by seven companies, to check compliance with the norms.

The ban on Maggi in India has hit its workers hard as around 1,500 workers involved in manufacturing of Maggi in India have been ‘impacted’ by the stoppage of production after ban of the instant noodles brand.

Besides, suppliers have also been hit by the Maggi ban and Nestle India’s largest supplier of spices, Moga-based Paras Spices Ltd, has already ended services of “some workers” out of the 200 temporary employees it has.  According to a PTI report , Nestle India has about 1,500 permanent workers who were directly involved in Maggi production across five plants in India.

“They have also been redeployed, engaged in other activities and are in a way impacted,” a senior official said, however, adding that there has been no job cuts.