Suresh Narayanan on consumer trends & Nestle’s goal for 2023

“People are looking at value for money. But people are also going in for premium brands. There is a premiumisation effect that is taking place in the economy as a result of greater exposure, greater travel, greater aspiration and also in some strata of society better incomes,” says Suresh Narayanan, CMD, Nestle India

On raw materials prices and product pricing
One of the things we have to remember is that organisation’s value chains are not built on one month’s pricing. It will happen over a period of time. I think one is seeing some amount of moderation coming in but there are some commodities where the prices continue to be fairly bullish.

Whatever happens on the value and pricing front will be a result of the balancing between all the commodities that go to make our mix and at the moment. It is too early to prognosticate whether it will be better, substantially better or equal to what was the impact in 2022.

What kind of consumer trends did you observe in 2022 and what is Nestle’s goal for 2023?
Consumers are operating in three or four spaces; firstly the value space is still very high, people are looking at value for money. But people are also going in for premium brands. There is a premiumisation effect that is taking place in the economy as a result of greater exposure, greater travel, greater aspiration and also in some strata of society better incomes.

So that is one. Number two is the quest for products with better nutrition and better quality and with more trustworthy brands, quality has become quite high.

During the pandemic, we saw the third trend, which was very high on immunity seeking products that seems to have kind of waned now. It is not as acute as it was.

The fourth trend is that trust and longevity of brands has become important.