Maggi has always been an important part of our lives, especially for broke college students who can not really afford anything else.
So this move by Nestlé to join Indian’s love for Maggi with being environmentally conscious is I’ll have to say, a good strategy.
People always love free things and exchange offers, more so the ones where they can give away their old and broken things to get shiny new items.
Nestlé took that ideology and launched the ‘MAGGI Wrappers return’ scheme in which consumers can get a free Maggi packet if they return a certain amount of empty MAGGI noodle packets.
What Is The Scheme?
A few months back, in around May, the Dehradun based think-tank called Gati Foundation revealed that Maggi, the instant noodle product by Nestle was one of the top contributor towards plastic pollution in the city of Mussoorie.
Other brands among these were Lay’s chips by PepsiCo and Frooti (the largest selling mango flavoured drink in India) by Parle along with Vadilal and Amul ice cream wrappers, Haldiram, Britannia and Parle-G packs that are consistently increasing the plastic pollution in the country without taking effective measures of disposal.
Most of these brands are extremely easily available in most of the tourist hotspots in Mussoorie and due to the travel friendly packaging of these items, tourists often buy them and then throw the empty packets on the road or some sensibly in the dustbin.
Along with that, many areas have something called ‘Maggi Points’ which are essentially roadside stalls known for making Maggi at a very cheap price.
More than anything it was perhaps the fact that the empty used packets of the products by these brands were not being disposed off in a proper manner.
The plastic pollution in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand itself comprises of almost 50% of the total pollution so imagine the kind of problem they must be creating in the entire country.
Thus in a bid to lower their contribution to the plastic pollution in India, Nestlé has come up with the waste management scheme called the ‘Maggi Wrappers Return’.
Under this scheme, the consumer must return back 10 empty Maggi noodle packets in exchange for which they will get a free Maggi noodle packet.
Right now, the project is operating in its pilot period in just the regions of Dehradun and Mussoorie but there are plans to expand it to other states soon.
Nestlé is working in collaboration with about 250 retailers who will be collecting these empty packets which will then be collected by the Indian Pollution Control Association and disposed off in an environmentally-friendly manner.
A spokesperson from Nestlé said in relation to this scheme that,
“We are hopeful that this will bring about a behaviour change in consumers and help create awareness for responsibly disposing of plastic waste and prevent littering.”
Will This Work?
The management of this scheme would certainly have to be done in a good way since Maggi till yet has not really risen back, at least in public opinion, from the controversy a few years back of it being unhealthy that also led to its ban in the entire country.
Plastic pollution is a big reality and the fact that consumers just throw away those packets on the road is another problem.
This scheme could be good, since it could encourage people to not throw away their empty packets and not only get a free item afterward but also contribute towards proper plastic waste management.
But have to say, it’s also a good marketing strategy from Nestlé since the sales of Maggi will probably rise as people would want to buy more and more packets just so they can get a free one.
What do you think? Will these schemes work? Or is it just another way by Nestlé to earn more money?
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Business Today, India Times, Economic Times
Find the blogger at: chirali_08
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