Nestle India CMD Says They Prefer to Avoid Price Hike Whenever Possible

• Nestle India CMD emphasizes limiting price hikes wherever feasible to support consumers amidst rising costs.
• Focus remains on cost optimization and operational efficiencies instead of passing expenses to customers.

Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & Managing Director of Nestle India, stated on Thursday that the FMCG major will avoid price increases wherever possible in the future. The company's decision on price increases will be based on commodity prices, such as coffee, which is up 60-70% and "very difficult to manage," he said.

On Thursday, Nestle India's board approved the issuance of bonus equity shares at a 1:1 ratio to existing shareholders. This is the first bonus issue since 1996, with shares subdivided and listed on the NSE in 2024.

The outgoing CMD stated that commodity inflation, which impacted volume growth in the last few quarters, is coming down as prices stabilize, but the upcoming quarters should see things return to normal.

However, commodities such as coffee and cocoa remain at "decadal highs, and that clearly puts an enormous amount of pressure in terms of managing the penetration-led growth and the bottom line (margins) of the company," said Narayanan, speaking at Nestle India's last Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Narayanan, who addressed his 10th Nestle India AGM as Chairman, will retire on July 31, 2025, after 26 years in the role, and Manish Tiwary, former Country Manager of Amazon India, will take over on August 1, 2025, according to a succession plan announced last year. 

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He stated that Nestle India implemented a number of cost-cutting and efficiency initiatives to combat food inflation. It also initiated price increases in a "responsible manner" to ensure that volume is not affected and category rules are maintained. "There were short-term pressures... But hopefully, we will be able to resume our normal pace in the coming quarters and months," he said. Narayanan went on to say that commodity inflation has clearly "cast its shadow on the overall evolution of the company's volume".