Sale of Maggi hit hard in city
Manav Mander
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, June 5
The sale of Maggi noodles has been hit hard ever since the news of Maggi containing monosodium glutamate (MSG) and lead beyond the permissible levels has come to the fore. Maggi has disappeared from the shelves of most of the departmental stores in the city and people have also stopped bringing it home. Canteens and hostels have also stopped cooking 2-minute wonder.
The distributor located at the Model Town Extension from where the samples of Maggi were collected by the Health Department on Wednesday alone sells Maggi noodles worth Rs 1.5 lakh everyday. There are a total of three distributors of Nestle in the city. According to the sources, Ludhiana residents eat Maggi worth Rs 5 lakh every day.
Gurpreet Singh, canteen manager at one of the canteens located at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), whose canteen was also popularly known as “Maggi Point” among the students, has stopped serving the 2-minute instant noodles.
“I have stopped cooking Maggi noodles since the news of Maggi containing lead has come forward. Even students have stopped asking for the noodles. I use to sell nearly 70-80 plates of Maggi noodles daily. But for the past one week, the sale has come to zero. Students from all over the university use to come to relish Maggi here as we used to prepare it with fresh vegetables,” said Gurpreet Singh.
“After the controversy, the sale of Maggi has dipped by more than 60 per cent. We usually sell five-six cartons (each carton contains 48 packets) of the 2-minute noodles on a weekly basis. There has been virtually no sale in the past seven days. We have barely sold seven packets of Maggi instead of over 280 packets a week. Earlier Maggi would be a must item on a mother’s shopping list. Now, it has been struck off,” said Naresh Sharma, a departmental store owner in Civil Lines.
Kusum Lata and Saroj, both first-year BTech students at the PAU, said now Maggi was not cooked at the hostel.
“Even we have stopped eating Maggi noodles. It was quick to make and no effort was required in the process. It was our favourite midnight snack at the hostel,” said the duo, longing to get back the improved version of Maggi soon.
Mandeep Gill, mother of an eight-year-old who purchased mega packs of Maggi earlier, is now reluctant to buy the 2-minute noodles.
“Though I am having a tough time convincing my daughter, I will not bring Maggi or any other instant noodles to my home. I have started giving my daughter sandwich, ‘dhokla’ or ‘kachori’ in the evening. They are far healthier than Maggi noodles,” she said.
Another departmental store owner from Ghumar Mandi, while giving his opinion, said at present there is virtually no sale of Maggi. I have not sold a single packet of Maggi for the past four days.
He said: “It is probably a matter of time that Maggi will sell again. For now, the fear has hit parents since it involves children. A few years ago, a popular chocolate brand was under the scanner as the chocolate bars contained worms, the sale was halted for some time but now everybody is happily eating them”.
