Nestle will establish its first R&D centre in India

Nestle India announced on Wednesday that its first R &D facility will soon be established in the country

Nestle India

With this addition, the company aims to focus on ‘popularly positioned products’, as it aims to
strengthen its R&D capabilities in emerging markets such as India.

The unit, for which Nestle plans to invest Rs 230 crore, will be the company’s 30th globally. Nestle
expects to begin operations by July 2012. To be positioned at Manesar, Haryana, the R&D centre is
looking to further localize Nestle’s product range across culinary, cereals, beverages and dairy
products.

Furthermore, the company is aiming to invest Rs 1,000 crore on building up its manufacturing
capacities. Helio Waszyk, chairman and managing director of Nestle India, stated that while Rs 350
crore was being invested in a new manufacturing plant in Karnataka to produce the Maggi range of food
products including noodles, soups and ketchup, another Rs 550 crore would be added in a new facility
to manufacture infant foods.

Nestle SA hopes that developing markets will account for 45% of overall sales by 2020. “We are
strengthening our research and development organisation in India. This new centre will facilitate
innovation in a wide variety of foods, including culinary, cereals beverages and dairy products,” Klaus
Zimmermann, head of Nestle R&D Centres globally said.
The R&D facility would focus on ‘nutritionally enhanced products at affordable prices for India as well
as worldwide” Klaus Zimmermann added. In the early stages, the new unit will have a team of about 40
scientists along with engineers.

Last year, Nestle’s sales stood at Rs 5,222 crore. Mr Waszyk said that the R&D centre would be ‘an
additional competitive advantage’ for the company in the near future. “It will help us accelerate the
company’s growth and contribute towards reducing nutritional deficiencies in India,” he said.

Commenting on the company’s flagship brand ‘Maggi noodles’ currently facing competition from newer
players like Hindustan Unilever’s ‘Knorr’ and GlaxoSmithKline’s ‘Horlicks Foodles’, Mr Waszyk said:
“I’m not worried about competition because it will only help in growing the category.”