Nestle's outlook crunchy as ever, room for firm to go deeper into rural mkt

Focus on innovation, market share and product premiumisation seen boosting growth

Nestlé India, is well positioned to deliver healthy volume-led growth aided by widening distribution reach, especially in rural markets, new products, and recovery in modern trade, say analysts.

Rural accounts for about 25 per cent of Nestlé’s total sales — one of the lowest among consumer companies. With rural growth outpacing urban by two times, headroom for the company to deepen penetration in the hinterland is significant, say analysts at Edelweiss. To this end, the company has doubled its reach from 45,000 villages to 90,000 in the past 18 months and has also tweaked its portfolio to stay relevant in those