MAGGI is well-known worldwide as an instant noodle and cooking solutions brand, and its level of recognition is particularly strong in what Nestle calls Zone Asia, Oceania and Africa (AOA) which contains the entire Asia Pacific region as well as Africa.
“MAGGI is for us a powerhouse in Zone AOA, with unmatched presence across 113 countries and our data indicating products being used in some 297 million households here,” Nestle Zone AOA CEO Remy Ejel said.
“Its brand power is very much rooted in local culture and local R&D expertise and manufacturing – MAGGI has the number one market share in important markets such as India, Malaysia and more.
“This has laid down very solid growth foundations for the brand to accelerate growth even further, which Nestle has been doing by making strategic choices [to] grow the Cooking Solutions and Small Meals categories under MAGGI.”
As part of its Cooking Solutions strategy in APAC, Nestle has tapped on demands for stronger value and localisation in each product, resulting in customised products for different markets under the MAGGI brand.
“For instance, in India we have the Masala-ae-Magic range of ready-to-cook masala products which have been fortified with minerals like iron, iodine and vitamin A; whereas in the Philippines there is the Magic Sarap All-in-One Seasoning fortified with iron,” he said.
“These products not only drive fortification but also help to establish new meal moments for consumers to use MAGGI products.
“We also have different products in Oceania as we know that consumers in different markets see value differently, so in Australia for instance we have an air-fryer range to cater to the rising number of consumers using air fryers to cook at home; as well as a range of plant-based products as there is high demand for this here.
“This flexibility in order to offer consumers more value per meal is very important in order to achieve higher realisation in the market.”
The other MAGGI strategy of accelerating small meals also leverages Nestle’s capability to localise products and enhance value, particularly within MAGGI’s traditional instant noodles category.
“Local tastes and flavours are very important in the MAGGI instant noodle category, including in key markets Malaysia which has the Maggi Hot Cup range, and India with the 2-Minute Noodles range,” he added.
“We have been strongly driving the penetration of instant noodles as a major small meals option in various AOA markets since 2019 with particular success in India which grew 500 base points from 2019 to 2023, and Malaysia which grew 400 base points in the same time.
“We are also working on expanding this success to more new markets, and believe that this can be done by offering consumers added value as well – one example has been in India where we launched the Nutrilicious and Happy Bowl ranges made using ingredients like atta and oats to increase nutrient value.
“The other way is by offering differentiated textures and flavours, such as Korean ramen noodles or Tom Yum noodles in Malaysia.”
Growth is in Food
Food is the biggest category that Nestle has participation in, with many brands in its portfolio beyond MAGGI.
“This enormous participation offers us growth headroom, and we have unmatched reach and scale in various emerging markets,” he added.
“In addition to MAGGI, we also have the global number one dairy culinary brand Carnation as well as China’s number one bouillon brand Totole in our portfolio.
“We will continue to zoom in on emerging markets based on these strengths, as these are accretive profitable growth drivers across the cooking solutions, small meals and prepared meals segments that Nestle Food covers.”
