The Maggi Debacle

Analysis by Group 4
Anuradha Dahiya
Pavitharan C
Raj Kumar
Sandeep Singh
Sunil Khosla
Vivek Mathur
 Aim

To study the method of communication adopted by Nestle

India during the period when their popular brand Maggi
noodles was in controversy.
 Sequence of events
Date Event
March 2014 First notice to Nestl India for unhealthy food practices and
deceitful labelling
July 2014 Nestl appealed, Maggi sent for testing at Kolkata Central Food
Laboratory
April 2015 High levels of lead and MSG found in Maggi, Nestl did not even
respond the FDA warnings
21st May Indian state orders recall of Maggi noodles.
2015 Nestl India blocked all lines of communicationwith consumers.
Stayed in denial.
1st June 2015 Nestl re-assures customers its noodles are safe
2nd June Nestl interacts with customers on social media thanking them for
2015 their support.
3rd June Nestl launches a FAQ page on the official Nestl website.
2015
4th June Nestl backtracks and recalls all Maggi noodles from India.
2015
16th June Nestl decides to destroy withdrawn noodles worth $50 million.
2015
Role of Communication

State clear stand.

Clarify controversial issues.
Obtain feedback.
Maintain trust of consumers.
Communication by leaders in crisis

Forthright and truthful.

Approachable.
Address all stakeholders.
Appear decisive.
Obtain feedback, strategise accordingly.
Communication with media

Clear and concise.

Facts.
Data in the form of handouts.
Courteous but firm.
Intimate future course of action.
 Press Briefing
Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, I welcome you to this press briefing on
behalf of Nestle India Ltd.
I request you to hold your questions till the end of the brief.
As you are aware, Nestle India has been served a notice for unhealthy food
practices and deceitful labelling in March 2014. We appealed and our product,
Maggi noodles was sent to Kolkata Central Food Laboratory for testing. The
tests found high levels of Lead and MSG in April this year.
Nestle India is committed to providing the best products to our consumers
fully compliant with the standards and laws laid down in the country. Since
the levels of lead and MSG have been found to be in excess of prescribed
standards, we have decided to withdraw our entire stock of Maggi noodles
from the market and destroy it. We request all consumers who hold any stock
of Maggi noodles to return it to their nearest retailer for a full refund. We
sincerely apologise to all our esteemed consumers for the inconvenience.
We would also like to emphasise that we do not, I repeat, do not add any lead
or MSG to our product. It is, however, possible that lead and MSG may be
inherently present in the raw material used in the manufacturing process like
water. We regularly monitor the levels of all such components in our product.
The handouts given to all of you are the test results of our batches
manufactured between February 2014 and Jun 2014. We are co operating
with all authorities in this respect and are confident that we will soon be able
to show to you and our consumers that Maggi noodles are absolutely safe for
consumption.
Thank you. I shall be glad to answer any questions that you may have.
 MAGGI
NESTLE INDIAS
MASCOT