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Ratna Bhushan

New Delhi , Nov. 24

NESTLE India's Chairman & Managing Director, Mr Carlo Donati, on Monday said the foods major had begun the exercise of "reinforcing the guidelines for market hygiene" for its chocolate brands. In other words, the exercise is aimed at ensuring that storage of its chocolate brands at retail outlets meet the adequate hygiene standards.

On whether the recent worms controversy involving Cadbury India's chocolate brands had impacted sales of Nestle as well, Mr Donati said, "Any controversy that shakes the consumer's confidence is not good for the category."

The company has projected double-digit growth in the forthcoming months. Mr Donati attributed expectations of increased demand to healthy monsoons this year. "Good monsoons have improved general economic outlook, but the impact on the overall fast moving consumer goods sector remains limited," he said.

Mr Donati added that Nestle would continue to explore opportunities to introduce new products at affordable unit prices, or introduce low-priced variants of existing brands - from culinary to chocolates to dairy products. At the same time, Mr Donati added that the foods major's product mix would remain largely urban-centric.

The company clocked a domestic sales growth of 9.6 per cent for the third quarter (Q3) ended September 30, 2003, with its net profit for Q3 having increased by 72.4 per cent, to Rs 75 crore.

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