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Introduction:
Inmodern business history, international consumer preferences and retail trends have always influenced the global
food industry. Till the 1990s, due to urbanisation and high-income growth, therewas an increasing demand for convenience
foods.Processed food companies even registered double-digit growth rates.However, excess consumption of convenience
foods had an adverse impact on consumers’ health, which in turn led to a boom in the demand for healthy and nutritious
foods.
As theworld’s largest processed foodmanufacturer,Nestléwas quick to tap into the newmarket for nutritious food.Right
fromits start,Nestléwas deeply rooted in nutrition.Nestlé’s Nutrition StrategicBusinessDivision (NSBD), thatwas set up in
1997, was transformed into a full-fledged business unit, called Nestlé Nutrition. Thismove was aimed tomake the whole
company focus on nutrition. The product portfolio ofNestléNutritionwas focused on InfantNutrition, PerformanceNutrition,
andHealthCareNutrition.As a first step towards a ‘nutritious’ growth,Nestlé purchased theUSweightmanagement and food
products company, Jenny Craig. Further, healthier and value-added products and services were developed through
Nestlé’sNutrition Institute inGermany and home-care services inParis.With the focus firmly on nutritious food,Nestlé’sCEO,
Peter Brabeck hoped to see it grow three times the growth of the food and beverage industry.
However, othermajor players of the industry likeKraft,Unilever andDanone, also turned towards the nutrition segment
and the competition intensified.At the same time, retailers likeWal-Mart,Carrefour, andTesco also entered the fraywith their
‘private label’ brands. But, both investors and analysts remain sceptical about the difference products like energy drinks or
‘crunchy’ bars canmake to a company of Nestlé’s size.
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