Nestle has recommenced production of Maggi Noodles at all of its facilities in India, in an effort to make up for the lost time that cost the company Rs 4.5bn ($67.4m) when it was banned for five months due to excessive presence of lead in noodle samples.
The Swiss food company had relaunched Maggi Noodles on 9 November across India after the samples were cleared by government-accredited laboratories following a five-month ban. Nestle had commenced production of the instant noodles at five of its plants in Nanjangud (Karnataka), Moga (Punjab) Bicholim (Goa) and Tahliwal and Pantnagar in Himachal Pradesh.
With permissions granted for production of Maggi Noodles by all states across the country, the company has resumed manufacture of the instant noodles at all of its five manufacturing facilities, in order to raise the supply of the product, reports The Hindu.
The resumption of production at the Tahilwal plant in Himachal Pradesh was good news for the company as it is considered as one of the major production facilities for the product, reported Business Standard.
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE): "We have resumed manufacturing of Maggi Noodles at its Tahliwal (Himachal Pradesh) Factory. With this, the company has resumed manufacture of Maggi Noodles at all five noodle manufacturing facilities."
In June, when the company was ordered to remove its Maggi Noodles product from store shelves across the country and had to destroy over 30,000 tons of the instant noodles, Nestle took a beating of Rs 4.5bn ($67.4m) worth of business. Samples of the instant noodles were found to contain excessive amount of lead which led to the ban of the product.
The company also posted a decline in standalone net profits at Rs 1.24bn ($18.6m) for the third quarter ended September 2015, posting a 60.1% fall. The net sales had fallen 32.12% to Rs 17.36bn ($260m) as compared to Rs 25.57bn ($383.2m) in July-September quarter last year.
For the first time in 15 years, Nestle India reported a standalone loss of Rs 644m ($9.6m) in the second quarter, attributed to the ban on Maggi Noodles.
Nestle had battled class action suit filed by consumer affairs ministry seeking damages of about Rs 6.4bn ($95m) alleging unfair trade practices. The suit was opposed by the firm, which claimed that ban on Maggi noodles had led 9,000 vendors and 10,000 suppliers becoming unemployed, and it had to suffer a loss of nearly Rs 2.5bn ($38m).
