Countryside is the new battleground for Nestle India, Britannia and Parle

Nestle India's aggressive shift to the hinterlands points to the growth that beckons in these areas; Britannia and Parle have already got there

Nestle India, one of the leading food companies, proposes to get a higher proportion of sales from rural areas in the years to come. For this, the company’s Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Suresh Narayanan has set clear targets — improving rural coverage by 35 per cent in three years to 120,000 villages, tweaking its product portfolio and price points as well as improving brand communication in the countryside.

For an urban-centric company such as Nestle India, the shift is significant. The Gurgaon-headquartered firm derives 75 per cent of its top line from urban areas and 25 per cent from rural