Brands
Nestlé brews up record sales in India as coffee, cocoa and cats fuel growth
MUMBAI: Nestlé India stirred up a storm this quarter, brewing its highest-ever domestic sales at Rs 5,235 crore. For the full year ended 31 March 2025, total standalone revenues topped Rs 20,078 crore, with net profit settling at Rs 3,315 crore, marking a modest jump of 3.7 per cent year-on-year. The board also declared a final dividend of Rs 10 per share, sweetening the pay out pot to Rs 27 per share for FY’25.
A frothy combination of caffeine, confectionery, and kitty treats. Beverages, led by Nescafe’s cold coffee range, posted double-digit growth. The Gen Z-fuelled ready-to-drink variants are creating a whole new universe of coffee consumption moments. Meanwhile, Kitkat continued to crack the confectionery code — India is now its second-largest market globally.
Maggi also slurped its way back to volume growth. With masala magic intact, Nestlé’s cooking aids and prepared dishes segment showed mid-single digit growth, keeping India firmly on top as MAGGI’s largest global market.
The milk products & nutrition category saw launches of Cerelac and Ceregrow variants with zero refined sugar, bolstering Nestlé’s health-first pitch. Meanwhile, the petcare segment — now fully integrated — clawed its way to the top with high double-digit growth, with Purina Pro Plan and Felix driving demand among pet parents.
Nestlé’s out-of-home business is emerging as a dark horse, now dabbling in professional spreads with Kitkat Professional Spread for dessert chefs. E-commerce contributed 8.5 per cent to domestic sales, helped by a fast-track into quick commerce.
The company reaffirmed its Rs 6,500 crore investment commitment towards new capabilities and capacities between 2020 and 2025. Its tenth factory in Odisha, focused on food manufacturing, is already underway with a Rs 900 crore first-phase spend.
Sustainability wasn’t just lip service. The company highlighted efforts like renewable energy adoption, circular packaging, regenerative agriculture, and ‘Zer’Eau’ water-saving tech in its Moga and Samalkha plants, recycling milk-extracted water to slash groundwater drawdowns by 20 per cent.
* Operating margins: 21.5 per cent
* Cash from operations: Rs 2,936 crore
* Contribution to exchequer: Rs 5,504.7 crore
* EPS: Rs 34.38
* Share capital: Rs 964.2 crore
Despite strong fundamentals, net cash dropped sharply to Rs 761.8 million, down from over Rs 7.5 billion last year — partly due to capex, dividends, and increased working capital needs.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
