Maggi wants to turn home chefs into food entrepreneurs

The brand’s new move takes it from a mere noodle snack brand to one that aids food entrepreneurship dreams of 10 people.

Maggi, the two-minute noodle snack brand from Nestle, is now donning the hat of a career maker. It has partnered with the India Food Network (IFN), an online portal for easy cooking recipes, to launch the ‘Desh Ke Liye 2 Minute – Ek Chhoti Si Koshish’ campaign.

While the COVID pandemic-induced lockdowns put an end to the entrepreneurial dreams of many, it also brought to light how home chefs across India rose to the occasion with their culinary skills…

The IFN website quoted Nikhil Chand, director – foods and confectionery, Nestlé India, as saying, “The unprecedented turn of events witnessed this year (2020) may have impacted economies and businesses gravely. However, we at Nestlé firmly believe that irrespective of the situation, the spirit of the people of this country is hard to dampen, especially those with entrepreneurial dreams.”

“This program is an ode from us at Nestlé India to those who did not let the lockdown affect their ambitions, rather only fuelled it. Through this initiative, we will support the dreams of 10,000 home chefs and help them start their own entrepreneurial journey,” added Chand.

Nestle, under this program, will support home chefs with food business guides, mentorship and training, kitchen and studio setup, and Rs 5 lakh financial support. Aiding Nestle in this campaign, apart from the IFN, are industry experts such as chef Ajay Chopra, and YouTube food bloggers Kabita Singh, Madhura Bachal and Hema Subramanian.

To become eligible for the program, one will need to fill a four-stage form on ‘www.deshkeliye.maggi.in’. Once you are selected, you will then be eligible for the announced monetary and non-monetary support.

The four stages of the program are described in the document below where, at the start, 10,000 entries will be solicited, but at the end, only 10 winners will be declared – each stage weeding out applicants.

Maggi program rules.pdf

It is an interesting move from Maggi because if you visit its website (www.maggi.in), you will see a section called ‘recipes’ where you can curate the list based on factors such as cuisine, diet and health, meal type, ingredient, steps, and dish type. This program seems a natural evolution – the brand first helped people with recipes and is now helping them realise their food dreams.