Nestle welcomes greater transparency in food labelling and would welcome front-of-pack labelling in India, with global CEO Philipp Navratil saying any such system “has to be done the right way” and that the company could contribute to the debate.
“On a macro level, we welcome transparency,” Navratil told reporters at a media roundtable on Wednesday. “We welcome consumers being curious about what they eat and what they consume. And I think we have always been pro transparency.”
Nestle already declares calories on the front of its packs in India and also provides recommended dietary allowance information, even though it is not regulated, he said.
“If the regulation is to have front of pack labeling in different shapes or forms, we welcome that,” Navratil said. “It’s not something that we think is wrong.”
But, he added, “it has to be done the right way”, and should be done scientifically.
“For example, doing it by portion and not by grammage, because sometimes people eat portions; they don’t eat grams of products,” he said.
Navratil also said Nestle would like to collaborate with the government on the issue. “We will definitely collaborate if we are asked to do so,” he said. The company would be “happy to give our perspective and also share our experiences from other countries”.
Targeting Top-Five
Navratil who was on a three-day India visit, said that India is a top-10 market for the company and was the group’s highest-performing market in the first half of 2026.
He also said that India is likely to enter the top 5 in the coming years. “The top five is definitely on the horizon. You need to take consumers along, and that is exactly what the teams are doing. So we will get to that top five for sure, and probably beyond that going forward.”
On inorganic growth, Navratil said Nestle’s focus remains organic growth, although it may consider bolt-on acquisition opportunities that strengthen its portfolio.
“If there are inorganic opportunities, we will take them. But we’re not actively looking to do that,” he said. “So we’re really focused on driving organic growth. That is the prime opportunity that we’re looking for.”
India, he said, “has a lot of opportunity” but “it is a competitive market”.
“We take it seriously, but we’re not afraid of competition. If anything, we get inspired by it, and we try to get better every day,” he said.
Navratil said Nestle would continue investing in manufacturing, R&D and other capabilities in India. “India is a good recipient of capital investment for the group because again, you put capacity in, and that is then utilized very fast, and then you already think about the next investment,” he said.
At the group level, Nestle is focused on four businesses – coffee, pet food, nutrition, and food and snacks, which in India includes products such as Kit Kat and Maggi.
Nestle India saw robust growth in the first quarter of FY27. Its consolidated net profit rose 48.3% to ₹958.68 crore in the Q1, while revenue grew 25.1% to ₹6,378.18 crore. Profit before interest, depreciation and tax increased 41.5% to ₹1,544.2 crore.