Maggi and its Origins

1.  Maggi happens to be our very own homegrown 2 min brand, right? – Wrong

The origins of Maggi, goes back to Switzerland in 1884 when Julius Maggi had the vision to make food with taste and nutrition accessible to busy families, especially for working women. He invented a powdered pea and bean soup that was easy to cook, which took almost 2 years of R&D.

2.  By 1900, Julius had registered his signature and variations of his name in various typefaces in multiple countries. In Switzerland, he protected 18 different variations of his name – everything from Maggi to Magique – to ward off would-be imitators.

3.  The brand was acquired by Nestle in 1947, as Nestle had shared a pioneering and visionary approach towards food.

4.  Maggi, as a food brand began to gain popularity in many of the emerging market countries like Africa, parts of Asia, etc. However, the brand was introduced to India, in the 1980s when the number of working women went on the rise in India. In fact, during India’s world cup win was when Maggi was introduced to the market in an aggressive way.

5.  In the next 5 years the company realized that their target market was not women, but kids who loved the taste of Maggi and instant noodles

6.  By 2005, Maggi, became the market leader with India contributing to more than 70% of its revenues

7.  By 2013, Maggi faced aggressive competition from ITC and other players like Nissin in the market

8.  Maggi had an 80% market share in India, but with the MSG crisis in 2015, and with the products being banned, the market share almost halved.

9.  Maggi relied on its advertising strength over the next 2 years to regain its brand presence and marketing.

10.  Maggi’s growth to the parent company – Nestle – has been in the mid-double digits in the last 3 years which has had a positive impact to Nestle India’s growth too.

11. Today, Maggi alone contributes to 25% of the topline of Nestle and continues to be one of the few brands that saw a massive uptick in terms of consumption during the lockdown.

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