Recall on course, Nestle to burn 30,000 tonnes of Maggi by July
Since the recall started, the company has conducted tests on 165 million noodle packs
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Nestle India has informed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) that all the Maggi noodles in the market will be destroyed by the end of July.
The company had to revise the estimate of noodles from 27,420 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes. Till June 24, Nestle India had sent 17,000 tonnes or 60 per cent of the noodles to 11 cement plants for incineration. According to Lica Fichera, executive vice-president, Nestle India, the company has already burned 8,500 tonnes of noodles.
Nestle has also intensified its testing of Maggi noodles. Since the recall started, the company has conducted tests on 165 million packs.
Maggi noodles are being burnt as fuel in cement plants in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. These plants are regularly used by consumer goods companies, including Nestle, for destruction of defective goods.
Nestle has stationed 40 employees in these plants to supervise the process. “We worked with these units before. That is why we could start the incineration soon after the decision of recall,” Fichera – the man with the responsibility to complete the recall of Maggi noodles – said. Nestle had initially tied up with five plants to burn 700 tonnes of noodles a day. It added six more plants in order to burn 1,000 tonnes a day.
Fichera expects the process to be completed by July. “With 21,400 tonnes of noodles left to be burned, it will take 22 days to complete the process,” he said. The monsoon may affect transportation and the operation of cement plants in Maharashtra and Gujarat. “We have kept a 10-15 day window in case such a situation arises,” Fichera explained. Nestle is conducting an advertising campaign asking customers and retailers to return their Maggi noodles stocks for cash. The company has received over 2,000 requests for return.
“It would be difficult for anyone to imagine the complexity of this ‘reverse distribution’ exercise, especially in a country of the size of India and complexity of its distribution channels”, Fichera said. His pet project is running smooth. But Fichera does not look very happy. “What bothers me is thousands of tonnes of Maggi noodles is being burned. It is more painful for me knowing that the all of that are completely safe and okay,” he added.
The company had to revise the estimate of noodles from 27,420 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes. Till June 24, Nestle India had sent 17,000 tonnes or 60 per cent of the noodles to 11 cement plants for incineration. According to Lica Fichera, executive vice-president, Nestle India, the company has already burned 8,500 tonnes of noodles.
Nestle has also intensified its testing of Maggi noodles. Since the recall started, the company has conducted tests on 165 million packs.
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Maggi noodles are being burnt as fuel in cement plants in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. These plants are regularly used by consumer goods companies, including Nestle, for destruction of defective goods.
Nestle has stationed 40 employees in these plants to supervise the process. “We worked with these units before. That is why we could start the incineration soon after the decision of recall,” Fichera – the man with the responsibility to complete the recall of Maggi noodles – said. Nestle had initially tied up with five plants to burn 700 tonnes of noodles a day. It added six more plants in order to burn 1,000 tonnes a day.
Fichera expects the process to be completed by July. “With 21,400 tonnes of noodles left to be burned, it will take 22 days to complete the process,” he said. The monsoon may affect transportation and the operation of cement plants in Maharashtra and Gujarat. “We have kept a 10-15 day window in case such a situation arises,” Fichera explained. Nestle is conducting an advertising campaign asking customers and retailers to return their Maggi noodles stocks for cash. The company has received over 2,000 requests for return.
“It would be difficult for anyone to imagine the complexity of this ‘reverse distribution’ exercise, especially in a country of the size of India and complexity of its distribution channels”, Fichera said. His pet project is running smooth. But Fichera does not look very happy. “What bothers me is thousands of tonnes of Maggi noodles is being burned. It is more painful for me knowing that the all of that are completely safe and okay,” he added.
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First Published: Jun 27 2015 | 10:41 PM IST