Nestle opens food safety inst in India, invites rivals to use it

Nestle has set up Nestle Food Safety Institute (NFSI) in India to offer specialised training to food inspectors, undertake research and also to provide postgraduate degrees in future.
Nestle opens food safety inst in India, invites rivals to use it

NEW DELHI: Nestle has set up Nestle Food Safety Institute (NFSI) in India to offer specialised training to food inspectors, undertake research and also to provide postgraduate degrees in future. This is the second such institute globally, after the one in China.

Built at a cost of Rs 250 crore at Manesar in Haryana, which includes Rs 7 crore on latest testing equipment, NFSI is also the global research and development centre for Noodles across the world. “Food has a significant influence on our health and there should be collaborative efforts between regulatory bodies and industry to cater to the health and safety of consumers,” said Nestle India’s chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan.

He is confident that this initiative will help other food companies to use this facility to test and undertake research and also set up their own R&D units on food quality and safety. He explained that NFSI is not funded by Nestle India and, hence, has no control over it. It will be an integral part of Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland.

While inaugurating NFSI, Pawan Agarwal, chief executive officer of Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Agarwal said there’s no conflict of interest. “FSSAI is not like USFDA which has many years of experience, has huge staff and latest technology. It is an independent initiative that will help the consumers get safe and quality food,” he added. nest

NFSI India will serve as the local interface of Nestle global food safety and research capabilities and will leverage expertise in food safety to collaborate with reputable academics, government agencies and research institutes in the country. “It will use high-end data analytics to research an issue on food anywhere in the world and disseminate it to the companies in the food business,” said Richard Stadler, head, Institute of Food Safety and Analytical Science, Nestle Research Centre (NRC), Lausanne.
Stadler noted that in Europe, NRC has helped in developing a tool kit that has helped many firms to meet safety standards.

Product portfolio to be pruned
Nestle India will consolidate its product portfolio to focus on performing brands. The process will include launch of new products in chocolate, confectionery, coffee, and milk categories. The products launched by Nestle in the past 15-18 months would also be reviewed. “Now we are in the process to see what is working and what is not working. We cannot support so many products going forward,” said Suresh Narayanan, CMD,Nestle India.

Nestle India eyes volume led growth
Nestle India is bullish on volume-led growth. However, its value would decline due to GST, because the excise duty is subsumed into GST itself. “It hits the sales side straight away. As a company, on an average, 525 basis points of sales would be reduced. If it was about to grow 10 per cent, this could show 4.75 per cent,” said Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director, Nestle India said. This would carry on till June quarter next year, he added.

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