Nestlé India reports strongest quarterly growth in nearly a decade Driven by double-digit volume growth
The Board of Directors of Nestlé India today approved the financial results (standalone and consolidated) for the fourth quarter and financial year ended 31st March 2026. Details of the standalone results are below:
Commenting on the standalone results, Mr. Manish Tiwary, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestlé India, stated, “I am pleased to share that this quarter, Nestlé India delivered high double-digit growth and recorded its highest-ever domestic sales, at INR 6,445 crore. This performance was powered by double-digit volume growth, driven by over 50% increase in advertising spends, whilst delivering a healthy EBITDA margin of 26.3%.
Total sales and domestic sales for the quarter increased by 23.4% and 23.1%, respectively. Encouragingly, all product groups contributed to this performance. I extend my sincere appreciation to our colleagues for their steadfast teamwork and shared sense of purpose, as we continued to serve consumers amidst a demanding external environment. Penetration and premiumization, combined with disciplined resource allocation and strong execution, have been key in driving growth.
During the financial year ended 31st March 2026, we remained focused on the fundamentals and executed with resilience, delivering double-digit, volume-led growth alongside strong market share gains. Over the last five years our power brands MAGGI noodles consistently maintained its leadership position in the market, while KITKAT and NESCAFÉ have accelerated their market share growth.
We progressed on our structural cost-efficiency agenda and delivered our highest-ever operational cost savings, which enabled higher reinvestments behind brands, accelerated digital, tech-enabled capabilities across sales and operations. We maintained tight discipline on profitability and cash generation and continued to upgrade and expand capacity prudently to meet growing consumer and customer demand and support future growth. Technology was leveraged to eliminate costs that did not add value to consumer and customers. These structural cost savings created headroom to channel those savings back into brand investment, higher advertising, consumer facing activation, stronger penetration and distribution.
Confectionery product group grew at a high double-digit pace in both value and volume underpinned by strong underlying transaction growth across our powerhouse brands. Increased distribution, enhanced freshness through the visicooler programme and a slew of innovations helped sustain this momentum.
The Powdered and Liquid Beverages product group achieved another year of high double digit growth, driven by increased coffee penetration, accelerated premiumization, and deeper category relevance across consumer segments, supported by strong brand equity and an expanded footprint.
Prepared Dishes and Cooking Aids product group posted strong volume-driven growth, fuelled by engaging urban consumers and expanding rural reach, leading to gains in both market share and penetration.
Milk Products and Nutrition product group showed resilience, delivering steady growth. We expanded portfolio accessibility and value by introducing new and larger pack sizes across to support consumer needs.
The Pet food business reported high double-digit growth, driven by a strong innovation pipeline to expand penetration and trials, wider distribution and a sharper focus on building deeper bonds between pets and pet parents.
NESPRESSO continued its growth path with the opening of the second boutique in India in Gurugram that has resonated well with coffee connoisseurs.
I am pleased to report that all our business channels recorded strong double-digit growth.
Nestlé Professional (Out-of-Home) delivered sustained, penetration-led, volume-driven growth, reinforcing its position as one of Nestlé India’s fastest-growing businesses.
We continued to execute an omni-channel strategy aligned to the evolving retail ecosystem, scaling e-commerce and quick commerce, strengthening modern trade and chain pharmacy, and sustaining growth through general trade across semi-urban and rural markets. Priorities remained focused on improving in-stock availability, reducing lead times and enhancing execution consistency through sharper channel-wise assortment and pack roles, closer partner collaboration and technology-enabled replenishment.
In rural markets, we strengthened our route-to-market and accelerated reach expansion through a focused approach anchored on Infrastructure, Product Portfolio, Technology, Visibility, Consumer Communication and People. This integrated approach delivered a strong scale-up in total reach across geographies, supporting the highest reach increase among industry peers, driven primarily by rural markets — expanding our presence to ~216,000 villages and sharpening the focus from adding outlets to improving the effectiveness of coverage and execution quality.
As we look forward, we will focus on four key priorities – 1) consumer centricity, 2) penetration-led volume growth, 3) reinvestment behind brands and capacity and 4) accelerating tech-led sales and operations.
At the heart of delivering these priorities are our people—creating an environment where they are empowered to act fast, stay focused and remain flexible, and where bolder, bigger and better innovations can thrive. We are strengthening capabilities to leverage technology, shift time to higher-value work and deliver greater impact. Our people remain central to the business, bringing creativity and judgement to serve consumers and customers.
True to our commitment to making a meaningful impact, we continue to advance our societal initiatives through strengthening rural development, education and livelihood enhancement, scaling feeding programmes, and improving water and sanitation. During one of my visits to Nuh district in Haryana, I met Payal, a 12-year-old student in Class 8 at our village adoption programme. She spoke about her ambition to become an IPS officer. Moments like these reaffirm my faith in the immense possibilities that India holds. They also remind us why initiatives such as village adoption matter, because they help create the conditions for young people like Payal to dream bigger and go further.
Guided by our purpose, we create shared value by consistently serving consumers responsibly. Across Nestlé India, our teams continue to advance the Good for Planet roadmap through robust governance and rigorous execution—advancing responsible sourcing, resource-efficient factories and strengthening water stewardship across our operations.
I extend my gratitude to Nestlé India’s Board members for their guidance and support. Our consumers, customers, suppliers, distributors and retailers for their continued partnership. Our shareholders for their trust and confidence. We remain committed to delivering sustainable, long-term value and staying future-ready.
Financial Highlights: financial year ended 31st March 2026 Standalone
• Total Sales of INR 23,071.5 crore
• EBITDA at 23.0% of Sales
• Net Profit of INR 3,544.6 crore
• Robust Cash Generated from Operations at INR 5,047.6 crore
• Earnings Per Share of INR 18.38
• Final Dividend recommended INR 5.00 per equity share
Business Comments – Financial year ended 31st March 2026:
• E-commerce: Growth momentum continued, led by strong Quick Commerce performance—driven by improved availability, a curated platform-specific pack portfolio across relevant categories, targeted on- and off-platform media interventions, and strong festive participation throughout the year.
• Organized Trade: delivered double digit growth across key categories, led by impactful in store activations, improved visibility along with store expansion.
• Out-of-Home (OOH): Delivered strong customer acquisition, supported by innovation and premiumisation across categories, including expansion of the beverage portfolio with NESCAFÉ Duo Gusto (hot and cold offerings) and the introduction of low- and zero-sugar beverage options. Recipe led innovations included MAGGI Coconut Milk powder’s expansion into coastal cuisines and tapping into emerging café and bakery applications for MILKMAID.
• Export: Expanded exports to new markets, including the Maldives and Papua New Guinea, taking Nestlé India’s export footprint to 28 countries through 127 million equivalent consumer units. Introduced NESCAFÉ Sunrise in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and New Zealand, and started exporting NESCAFÉ Bulk to UAE for use in 3 in 1 for sale in GCC countries. Expanded MAGGI Masala-Ae-Magic seasoning mix in the UK, US and UAE; launched the KITKAT range in Singapore; and introduced MILKMAID Doypack in Sri Lanka.
Product Groups Performance (Domestic) – Financial year ended 31st March 2026:
• Prepared Dishes and Cooking Aids: Focused innovations such as ‘Double Masala’ and the expanded ‘Spicy Range’, together with increased media investments behind core brands, helped sustain and accelerate growth momentum.
• Milk Products and Nutrition: Everyday Dairy Whitener continued to strengthen the portfolio, with strong reach in South and East India. Advanced our science-led Infant Nutrition proposition with NAN ExcellaPro (5HMOs + probiotics), expanded the CERELAC No Refined Sugar range and boosted the toddler portfolio through high-impact, differentiated multi-channel communication.
• Confectionery: Witnessed strong distribution gains, while consumer-relevant brand activations drove penetration growth. Launched KITKAT Pops; expanded the tablets range with MILKYBAR Butterscotch tablets; and extended MUNCH MAX with the launch of MUNCH MAX Crunchies. Further expanded the premium KITKAT portfolio with the launch of KITKAT Salted Caramel and Hazelnut.
• Powdered and Liquid Beverages delivered a strong and resilient performance, anchored by sustained double digit growth in the coffee portfolio. A clearly defined strategy focused on penetration and premiumisation continued to build the category across both ends of the spectrum while driving sustainable value creation. Accelerated Ready to Drink journey with the launch of innovative Vietnamese Latte and Iced Cappuccino variants, reinforcing RTD as a key pillar of future growth.
Key Highlights for the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2026:
Total sales and domestic sales for the quarter increased by 23.4% and 23.1%, respectively. Domestic sales growth was broad based. Domestic sales crossed INR 6,445 crore. EBITDA margin stood at 26.3%