"We have been in India for 104 years, 99.9 per cent of my company is Indian starting with me... I am proud of this heritage that we have in this country and proud of what the company has done in this country," Nestle India Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan told PTI.
Stating that the company's consumers, suppliers, vendors, partners and shareholders are all Indians, he said: "My contribution to taxes and salaries are all to Indians and therefore I am at a loss to understand as what else must I be doing to be called as Indian."
Narayanan further said: "So, while the statements are read also by my board both India and globally in Switzerland, we do not change our views simply because of the rhetoric."
Choosing not to get into a slanging match, he said: "Irrespective of what people might say, they have their points of view, I respect their point of view. Nestle's purpose and value will be unwavering and its commitment to this country would also be unwavering."
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Citing the example of the Maggi crisis, Narayanan said not even once that during the entire crisis, the company had a single incident of unrest.
Even though Nestle India shut down five factories for five months due to the ban on Maggi, it did not have a single problem at any of the plants, he added.
"No distributor left us or supplier left us and no shareholder betrayed us and that tells you that they are happy dealing with us as a company and they are happy with the trust and relationship that we have established these years," Narayanan said further.
On whether Nestle India will foray into ayurvedic FMCG products, which is fast becoming popular, he replied in the negative.
"The difference for Nestle is Nestle looks for nutrition and does not look at the origin or the source of the nutrition. This is a company involved in science, technology and R&D in nutrition," he explained.
According to Narayanan, Nestle India's aim is to make efficacious products and it does extensive trials to ensure the items are sustainable and stable and give the right kind of nutrition as far as consumers are concerned.
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