 "Maggi production units realign manpower")
Even as Nestle India is calculating the days, and weeks, it will take to bring back its bestseller Maggi noodles on retail shelves, the company's major spice supplier - Paras Spices - is thinking of ways to reduce its dependence on the Swiss food major after the contamination controversy.
Maggi noodles can be brought back on the shelves about two weeks after the company sorts out all the differences with the authorities, Nestle India officials told the media at the company facilities here in Moga, its first production unit in India built in 1961. The production unit in Moga, where the firm first manufactured Maggi noodles in 1984, is shut now. Other products of Maggi such as sauces and soups are still being made here.
Officials denied any job cuts immediately, but said the company had to redistribute some its 1,500-strong manpower engaged in production of Maggi across the five plants. While Nestle has taken a hit of around Rs 320 crore, Paras Spices wants to reduce its dependence on Nestle for its future sales so that "such incidents" don't hamper its revenue.
However, in other manufacturing units like Nanjangud, Bicholin, Tahliwal, or Pantnagar - where Maggi noodle is a major product - Nestle is training and preparing them for other jobs.
According to Paras Budhiraja, director of Paras Spices, the company is looking for other customers since its supplies to Nestle has stopped due to the halt in Maggi production. The company's Rs 115-crore revenue is under pressure as Nestle alone contributes 45 per cent to it. Paras started as a local spice trader in Moga and grew to become the largest spices supplier for Nestle in the past 28 years.
At a press conference in New Delhi on June 5, Nestle's global chief executive Paul Bulcke reassured millions of Maggi lovers in India that the company would bring the noodles back on to the shelves as soon as possible. However, it might take some time.
Following the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's order to recall Maggi noodles and stop its production, Nestle India moved the Bombay High Court. Before that, it had moved Uttarakhand High Court, too. Also, the consumer affairs ministry referred the issue to National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission.
"If we get permission from the authorities to reintroduce Maggi noodles, it would take 10-14 days to actually make noodles available at the retail level," said Srinivasan. As a standard procedure, Nestle keeps some six days of raw material for production of Maggi noodles. Given that all its stocks are being destroyed, during a future launch of the noodle, all the products would have to be manufactured after arranging for adequate raw material at its production units.
Company sources say that Nestle cut down on production of Maggi noodles at the end of last month, by when its sale was almost nil due to growing concerns over the presence of lead and monosodium glutamate, or MSG, in it. "Since the issue surfaced in the last week of May, sales went down drastically," said a company official.
The factory also includes Nestle's Quality Assurance Centre - a laboratory which the company uses for internal testing of all its products in the south-east Asia region. Even on Tuesday, scientists were testing batches of the noodle received from last of its batches to confirm their previous results. "Since the recall, we have tested Maggi noodles even separately (the cake and the taste-maker), like the authorities did," he said. Srinivasan could not find any discrepancy in such tests.
Maggi noodles can be brought back on the shelves about two weeks after the company sorts out all the differences with the authorities, Nestle India officials told the media at the company facilities here in Moga, its first production unit in India built in 1961. The production unit in Moga, where the firm first manufactured Maggi noodles in 1984, is shut now. Other products of Maggi such as sauces and soups are still being made here.
Officials denied any job cuts immediately, but said the company had to redistribute some its 1,500-strong manpower engaged in production of Maggi across the five plants. While Nestle has taken a hit of around Rs 320 crore, Paras Spices wants to reduce its dependence on Nestle for its future sales so that "such incidents" don't hamper its revenue.
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Satish Srinivasan, factory manager at Moga, says he had to redistribute some 115 workers working in the Maggi production unit in that location alone. "We did not have problem reallocating them here, since Maggi forms only 25 per cent of total production in Moga factory,'' he said.
However, in other manufacturing units like Nanjangud, Bicholin, Tahliwal, or Pantnagar - where Maggi noodle is a major product - Nestle is training and preparing them for other jobs.
According to Paras Budhiraja, director of Paras Spices, the company is looking for other customers since its supplies to Nestle has stopped due to the halt in Maggi production. The company's Rs 115-crore revenue is under pressure as Nestle alone contributes 45 per cent to it. Paras started as a local spice trader in Moga and grew to become the largest spices supplier for Nestle in the past 28 years.
At a press conference in New Delhi on June 5, Nestle's global chief executive Paul Bulcke reassured millions of Maggi lovers in India that the company would bring the noodles back on to the shelves as soon as possible. However, it might take some time.
Following the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's order to recall Maggi noodles and stop its production, Nestle India moved the Bombay High Court. Before that, it had moved Uttarakhand High Court, too. Also, the consumer affairs ministry referred the issue to National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission.
"If we get permission from the authorities to reintroduce Maggi noodles, it would take 10-14 days to actually make noodles available at the retail level," said Srinivasan. As a standard procedure, Nestle keeps some six days of raw material for production of Maggi noodles. Given that all its stocks are being destroyed, during a future launch of the noodle, all the products would have to be manufactured after arranging for adequate raw material at its production units.
Company sources say that Nestle cut down on production of Maggi noodles at the end of last month, by when its sale was almost nil due to growing concerns over the presence of lead and monosodium glutamate, or MSG, in it. "Since the issue surfaced in the last week of May, sales went down drastically," said a company official.
The factory also includes Nestle's Quality Assurance Centre - a laboratory which the company uses for internal testing of all its products in the south-east Asia region. Even on Tuesday, scientists were testing batches of the noodle received from last of its batches to confirm their previous results. "Since the recall, we have tested Maggi noodles even separately (the cake and the taste-maker), like the authorities did," he said. Srinivasan could not find any discrepancy in such tests.