India has become Nestlé’s largest global market for two of its most popular brands, Maggi and KitKat, highlighting the country’s growing importance in the company’s global growth strategy.
Nestlé India Chairman and Managing Director Manish Tiwary said India remains the biggest market for Maggi and has now also become the largest market worldwide for KitKat.
Speaking at Nestlé India’s 67th annual general meeting, Tiwary said FY26 was not an easy year for India’s consumption market, although rural demand showed signs of improvement. Despite the challenging environment, the company continued to outperform peers in volume growth.
Nestlé India is expanding deeper into tier-2 and tier-3 towns, where consumption is rising faster. Since April 2023, the company has added 5.2 lakh retail outlets, strengthening its distribution network across smaller markets.
Tiwary said rural consumers are increasingly seeking the same quality of products as urban consumers. The company’s key focus areas include consumer-centric innovation, penetration-led volume growth, higher brand investment, capacity expansion and technology-led sales operations.
Nestlé India has invested ₹2,000 crore in capital expenditure over the past two years. The company is also scaling its ready-to-drink cold coffee portfolio, while sourcing around 92 per cent of its raw materials domestically.
The company also reported its highest-ever operational cost savings in FY26, which were reinvested into advertising and digital campaigns to strengthen brand visibility.
Nestlé India has declared a special dividend of ₹2 per share, taking its total FY26 dividend to ₹7 per share, including the final dividend of ₹5 per share.