Anuradha Raghu
India and China are key coffee markets for Nestle SA, with the food giant optimistic about the prospects for consumption growth in the world’s most populous countries, its global head of strategy said.
“We have a very strong footprint in Asia and we are very optimistic about those markets with very low per capita consumption,” Philipp Navratil, head of Nestlé’s strategic business unit for coffee, said in an interview in Vietnam’s Dak province Lacquer.
“China is a really big focus, and India is a big focus.”
Nestlé’s presence in Asia includes its instant coffee operations in Vietnam, the world’s largest producer of robust beans.
Future expectations for the variety in London rose to a record earlier this year due to concerns about tighter supplies, and the outbreak of El Niño is expected to bring drier conditions to growing areas.
Navratil said the Philippines and Thailand are key markets for the Swiss maker of Nespresso and Nescafe, including for soluble and ready-to-drink products. He added that Pakistan and Africa are other regions for consumption growth.
“In India, China and sub-Saharan Africa, there are 4 billion people who drink an average of less than 20 cups per year,” Navratil said. There is an opportunity “to really build coffee markets out of those huge populations,” he said.
First print: November 29, 2023 | 11:53 PM IST