Nestle Working on Rebuilding its Popular Maggi Brand

Maggi maker Nestle India is drawing up plans to relaunch its banned instant noodles in a new way, if the court permits the company to sell them locally.

On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court allowed the company to export Maggi noodles, currently banned in several states in the country.

On 5 June, India's food safety regulator, the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), had ordered Nestle India to recall all available stock of Maggi noodles from the market after more-than-permissible levels of lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) were found to be present in samples of the noodles that were tested across laboratories by various states.

Experts believe that the issues related to Maggi noodles recall and its ban are likely to be settled in the coming three to six months.

Nestle India is readying itself to recommence the sales of Maggi noodles if the Bombay High Court lifts the ban. The company has initiated several steps on how to reposition Maggi noodles in a "rightful" way in the domestic market, Business Standard reported.

Toward achieving this, the company has rolled out an internal survey to get "inputs" from its employees.

"We are determined to resolve the Maggi noodles issue in the best possible way. We will return Maggi to its rightful position as 'the most trusted food brand in India'. You have a role to play, too. We know many of you will have suggestions or comments as to how this can be achieved," Nestle India's Managing Director Etienne Benet said in a recent e-mail to the company's employees.

The company has launched a separate web page for this and has partnered with surveymonkey, an online survey company, to elicit suggestions from employees on rebuilding the Maggi brand.

However, the company restricted outsiders from viewing this survey.

The intention is to bring out ideas to deal with the crisis over its flagship brand and also chalk out a plan for the future, said a source.

The relaunch of Maggi noodles is likely to involve a revamp of product packaging by Nestle India, as the company tries to "mark a complete break from the past."

The company is likely to focus more on the labelling issue, in order to make sure that it doesn't violate the food safety standards.

"Labels such as 'No added MSG' could be removed from the new packs," said a source.

A Nestle India spokesperson said that the company would look at all the options available to relaunch Maggi.

"But no concrete plan can be drawn on the matter before complete clarity on the issue," the spokesperson said.