Champion Performance: Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & Managing Director, Nestle India
Suresh Narayanan took charge of India operations of Nestle in April 2015 amidst difficult and perhaps the most challenging times for the company. An alumni of Delhi School of Economics, Narayanan, like several top business leaders in the FMCG space, started with Hindustan Unilever followed by a stint at Colgate Palmolive. Within Nestle, he has led teams in Singapore, Egypt, and the Philippines before leading the India operations successfully.
Narayanan describes FY22 as an "extraordinary year", where adversities were galore, yet Nestle India displayed “consistency in the face of storm”, combating volatilities, through thoughtful strategies and execution, that kept the growth engine robust. Addressing the shareholders, he said: "It was a year, where we grew responsibly together through resonant performance, strong brands, inspired people, empowered communities and with a strong commitment to sustainability."
As a testament of its pioneering work, Nestle India was recognised as the ‘MNC in India of the year’ in 2022 by All India Management Association and received the India Sustainability Champion Award at the India ESG Sustainability Summit 2022, he said.
Robust Growth
Under Narayanan, particularly in FY22, Nestle India clocked almost double-digit growth across all categories. "We delivered our highest double‐digit growth in a decade led by sustained volume and mix led growth, leading to a strong value growth. In 2022 total sales grew by 14.5 per cent and domestic sales increased by 14.8 per cent, with broad-based performance across all categories," Narayanan, Chairman and MD, Nestlé India said.
For the full calendar year 2022, the company reported sales of Rs 16,790 crore and profit of Rs 2,390 crore. Earnings per share came in at Rs 247.9, with market share gains in confectionary products. "Out‐of‐home (OOH) business made a strong comeback in 2022, recovering its pre‐Covid base and delivering robust growth. With our direct to consumer (D2C) platform, products manufactured by the company are now available in Delhi NCR," Narayanan said.
High commodity prices remains a challenge for every FMCG player today. The company said that prices of cereals, grains and coffee continues to be at a 10‐year high.
