Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestlé India
DH Photo
Bengaluru: Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestlé India, is set to retire on 31 July, 2025. He will be succeeded by Manish Tiwary, who was previously the Country Manager for e-commerce giant Amazon India.
“Nestlé India has received nomination from Nestlé S.A. for the appointment of Mr. Manish Tiwary as the Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited with effect from 1st August 2025. The proposal is subject to necessary approvals,” said the company in an exchange filing on Monday.
Before Amazon, Tiwary was associated with Unilever for 20 years. “He is currently a director at Amazon Digital Services Private Limited and More Consumer Brands Private Limited, and he will step down from his directorship on 30th October 2024,” the filing read.
Narayanan has served in Nestle for 26 years and his elevation to the post of CMD in August 2015 coincided with the infamous Maggi crisis which came as a major blow to the company, impacting its sales, revenue and brand value in everyday households.
Nestle came under regulatory scrutiny in June 2015 when the iconic Maggi noodles was found to have monosodium glutamate (MSG) beyond permissible limits, as well as lead. Its share in the noodle category went from 80% to zero a month after the ban, as the company recalled more than 30,000 tonnes of the product.
Countering this loss, which took the food and beverage maker more than a year to recover, Nestlé India forayed into newer categories to reduce dependence on the Maggi brand. Narayanan also spearheaded the company during the covid-19 pandemic which impacted sales of consumer staples.
Nestlé India also came under lens recently after the centre ordered FSSAI to investigate the alleged use of sugar in baby food products in April this year. However, there has been no development in the case since then.
The company also banked on the premiumisation trend, especially in the milk and nutrition portfolio during Narayanan’s tenure. It also kick started its premium range of KitKat chocolates, which saw a positive response in the market, Narayanan told DH in an interview last year.