Nestle chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan — who had helped the company to weather the Maggi storm almost a decade ago — will retire on July 31, 2025.

He will be succeeded by Manish Tiwary, who had resigned as the country manager of Amazon india in August.

The FMCG giant informed the bourses that Narayan will retire next year after a 26-year stint with the company.

Narayanan had joined the Nestle India Board as managing director from August 1, 2015. He was designated as the chairman and managing director with effect from October 29, 2015.

Earlier, he was the chairman and CEO of Nestlé Philippines. He joined Nestlé in 1999 as executive vice-president for sales in India, with the chilled dairy business set up under his leadership.

But the Maggi crisis was Narayan’s biggest challenge after he joined the Nestle board in 2015.

Nestle India had withdrawn MAGGI from the shelves to avoid any confusion around the product amongst the consumers in June 2015.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in June 2015 directed the company to withdraw all the variants of Maggi instant noodles from the market. This came after a test showed the presence of lead and mono sodium glutamate (MSG). Maggi noddles reportedly had a market share of 80 per cent of the segment.

Nestle had to recall and destroy close to 38,000 tonnes of Maggi as its standalone net profit slumped more than 60 per cent and net sales fell 32 per cent in the July-September 2015 quarter.

The ban was lifted in October 2015 after a Bombay high court judgment.

Narayanan led a comeback initiative with impactful campaigns that looked to rebuild people’s trust in the brand.

Nestle came up with a “miss-you Maggi’’ ads on social media which sought to ``reflect the spontaneity and affection between consumers and Maggi’’.

The efforts paid off as the brand’s market share steadily increased.

In the first month of relaunch in November 2015, Nestle gained a 10 per cent market share in the instant noodle market.

Manish Tiwary, who was leading e-commerce major Amazon in India as its country manager till August this year, will take over the baton on August 1, 2025, according to a statement from Nestle India.

“Nomination has been received from Nestlé S.A. (Swiss parent firm) for the appointment of Manish Tiwary as the Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited with effect from August 1, 2025,” it said.

Nestle said the proposal
“is subject to necessary
approvals”.