India is leading the pack in driving growth for Nestle across emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and Africa, with a focus on serving consumers meaningfully by being closer to them and having the muscle to drive the right value proposition at different price points and innovation, Philipp Navratil, CEO, Nestlé S.A., said at a media roundtable.

He also said that India is among the top 10 markets for the company globally and is the highest-performing market for the group in the first half of 2026.

“I can say that it (India) is the highest-performing market for the group in the first half of 2026… We're very proud of that, and there's further opportunity here,” Navratil said.

On investments in the country, he said that the maker of KitKat will definitely look at increasing manufacturing.

“You need a strong local manufacturing footprint to cater to the local consumers. India is more for the group and we should do more to see India as a production hub to export,” he said. From India, Nestle is currently exporting to 28 countries.

On the Indian food regulator becoming more stringent with brands, Navratil said that the company welcomes transparency and also welcomes consumers being curious about what they consume.

“If the regulation will be to have front-of-pack labelling in different shapes and forms, we welcome that. It is not something that we think is wrong, because we have done our homework and we would actually perform quite well because we try to be better in terms of competition when it comes to sugar content, fat content and sodium content which is, I guess, the ones the government will be focused on,” he said.

He added that the company has seen other countries doing that and it has to be done the right way and that is where there can be a debate in terms of making sure it is scientifically well done. He cited that it should be done by portions and not by grammage and explained that people eat in portions and not in grams.

When asked if companies and the government should collaborate, he said the company is happy to collaborate with the government if asked to do so.

He added that Manish Tiwary, chairman and managing director at Nestle India, and his team would be happy to share their perspective and also share the company’s experiences from other markets, noting that some countries have started to tax sugar. These have been learnings for the company which it can happily share.

On geopolitical-led issues like inflation and supply chain issues, Navratil said that Nestle is a resilient company, and in India, the company sources and buys locally. “That’s our strength in times of uncertainty. We make sure we have a resilient supply chain,” he said.

He also said that in the case of inflation, the company resorts to price increases only as a last resort. “We always try to drive efficiencies as much as we can to keep the right price points to keep consumers with us,” he explained.