Tareen Rahman :
Kamal Prasad Das, Director of Certification of Marks Division of BSTI, has stated that recent developments and unfounded concerns about the popular product — Maggi instant noodles — have led to an environment of confusion for the consumers in the country.
The product has been banned recently in neighboring India as it was reportedly found to contain excess lead levels.
However, Kamal Prashad told The New Nation yesterday that the BSTI (Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute) has tested packets of Maggi noodles in Bangladesh and found that “lead levels are well within the limits specified by food regulations and that Maggi noodles are safe to eat,”
It is to be noted that a tense situation has been prevailing for the last three weeks. The shop keepers are hesitant to store this product in their shops. The Market Representatives are also frustrated as no amount of advertisement, price reduction or free sample gifts of this product with Nestle Cornflakes are tempting the scared consumers. The shop keepers are no longer presenting big orders for this Nestle product. SM Kasim, Manager of Agora Super-shop told this correspondent that a feeling of scare has affected our consumers of Maggi instant noodles. This happened after the publishedreports that this food item was found to contain an excess level of lead in neighboring India.
“We have not yet decided to withdraw the product off the shelves, despite the product being declared unsafe in India.
Panicked customers are buying other brand noodles from our shop. We have a flyer on the Maggi noodles shelf with the call center number of Nestle Company for immediate contact to reduce confusion from consumer’s mind,” said Kasim in a worried voice.
Md. Sharif, Manager of Yasin General Store of the renowned Gharwoa Super-shop said, “The business of Maggi noodles is not doing well. On average business has dropped to half of the previous sales.”
He further added, “What ever has taken place in India should not have any effect in our country. However, worry and doubts have increased in buyer’s mind due to the increased advertisement of this product in the newspapers and also due to the sudden reduction in the price of this product. The decision to give two free packets of Maggi noodles with one pack of Nestle corn flakes has created more confusion and mistrust in consumers’ mind.”
An officer of Astha Super-shop said, “Buyers are losing their faith on Maggi noodles. Even though the price of this product has gone down, fear is keeping people away from purchasing this product.”
One of the directors of Bhai Bhai Super-shop of Maghbazar branch said, “People are afraid of this product. So, we have stopped buying Maggi noodles and we are also keeping less of this product in our shelves in recent days.”
Nakib Khan, Corporate Affairs’ Director of Nestle, Bangladesh, which is our local producer of Maggi instant noodles said in a frustrated voice that, “One false allegation was enough to cause the death of one such popular item. This is highly damaging for our business.”
“We are trying our utmost to clear consumers’ mind from doubt and confusion. We are still confident that we can overcome this crisis situation as we still have no specific statistics about how many buyers have given up this product or the extent of the negative impact,” he said.
Kamal Prasad Das, Director of Certification of Marks Division of BSTI, has stated that recent developments and unfounded concerns about the popular product — Maggi instant noodles — have led to an environment of confusion for the consumers in the country.
The product has been banned recently in neighboring India as it was reportedly found to contain excess lead levels.
However, Kamal Prashad told The New Nation yesterday that the BSTI (Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute) has tested packets of Maggi noodles in Bangladesh and found that “lead levels are well within the limits specified by food regulations and that Maggi noodles are safe to eat,”
It is to be noted that a tense situation has been prevailing for the last three weeks. The shop keepers are hesitant to store this product in their shops. The Market Representatives are also frustrated as no amount of advertisement, price reduction or free sample gifts of this product with Nestle Cornflakes are tempting the scared consumers. The shop keepers are no longer presenting big orders for this Nestle product. SM Kasim, Manager of Agora Super-shop told this correspondent that a feeling of scare has affected our consumers of Maggi instant noodles. This happened after the publishedreports that this food item was found to contain an excess level of lead in neighboring India.
“We have not yet decided to withdraw the product off the shelves, despite the product being declared unsafe in India.
Panicked customers are buying other brand noodles from our shop. We have a flyer on the Maggi noodles shelf with the call center number of Nestle Company for immediate contact to reduce confusion from consumer’s mind,” said Kasim in a worried voice.
Md. Sharif, Manager of Yasin General Store of the renowned Gharwoa Super-shop said, “The business of Maggi noodles is not doing well. On average business has dropped to half of the previous sales.”
He further added, “What ever has taken place in India should not have any effect in our country. However, worry and doubts have increased in buyer’s mind due to the increased advertisement of this product in the newspapers and also due to the sudden reduction in the price of this product. The decision to give two free packets of Maggi noodles with one pack of Nestle corn flakes has created more confusion and mistrust in consumers’ mind.”
An officer of Astha Super-shop said, “Buyers are losing their faith on Maggi noodles. Even though the price of this product has gone down, fear is keeping people away from purchasing this product.”
One of the directors of Bhai Bhai Super-shop of Maghbazar branch said, “People are afraid of this product. So, we have stopped buying Maggi noodles and we are also keeping less of this product in our shelves in recent days.”
Nakib Khan, Corporate Affairs’ Director of Nestle, Bangladesh, which is our local producer of Maggi instant noodles said in a frustrated voice that, “One false allegation was enough to cause the death of one such popular item. This is highly damaging for our business.”
“We are trying our utmost to clear consumers’ mind from doubt and confusion. We are still confident that we can overcome this crisis situation as we still have no specific statistics about how many buyers have given up this product or the extent of the negative impact,” he said.
