Maggi Maggi Maggi….
-by Madhu Sundaramurthy
It was 2015 and India was buzzing with the news of Maggi 2-Minute noodles being tested for toxic levels of lead. Some States took the product off the shelves, whereas some were directed to impose a temporary ban by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
I belong to a generation which grew up on Maggi and the 2-minute noodle Ads and for that generation it came under the category of “soul food”. Having resided in a hostel where we were not allowed to cook in our rooms, I remember thinking of ways on how to cook the noodles during a late night study session. I am sure my seniors will fondly recollect the night when we juniors cooked Maggi for them in our water kettles during one of those all-nighter study sessions. Be it at home, college or even during travel, Maggi has always been a fixed companion.
I remember searching for Maggi Noodles in 2003 in Munich and was surprised to see that there were more soups than noodles available in the store. After some questions in my broken German, I did manage to find a pack of Maggi noodles but it did not taste like the Indian counterpart. Disappointment and gloom set in until I found an Indian store which stocked my soul food. Even when I travelled to different parts of the world I realized that the only source of Maggi Masala was the local Indian store. This is when I realised that Maggi 2-Minute Noodles has been localized in many places to suit the popular flavours in those countries. In some countries even the name has been adapted to suit the local trends. In several countries, it is known as “Maggi mee” (mee is Indonesian/Malay/Hokkien for noodles). In Malaysia, fried noodles made from Maggi noodles are called Maggi Goring. In Mexico they are called Instant Maggi Ramen noodles. In Australia, Maggi noodles are available both dried type and precooked type.
There are many popular flavours like curry, chicken, tom yum, and asam laksa. In Pakistan, Maggi Noodles are available in six flavours – Chicken, Chatkhara, Masala, Lemon Chaska, Karara and Bar-B-Q. In South Africa the most common flavours are beef, chicken and cheese. It is also available in packaging made from animal free fats for the vegetarians. But the Indian made Masala flavour is the most exported flavour and that is because of the Indian population based in different parts of the world.
In India the Noodles were introduced in five flavours Masala, Chicken, Capsicum, Sweet & Sour, and Lasagna. Then there was the launch of other flavours like Curry and Tomato, Sambhar (for South Indian consumers), Lemon Masala, Chilly Chow and Shahi Pulao (for North Indian consumers). With time and new eating trends even the ingredients used to manufacture the noodles were localized to match the “healthy food” standards. Now we can choose between Wheat flour, Multi-grain flour, Atta and Rice and Oats noodles. Then came the Maggi Cuppa Mania – Maggi on the go with the tagline “Just add garam pani and carry on Janni” (Just add water and carry on). Everything Maggi has done to promote the product in India indicates that they want to sell Maggi as an Indianized product. The Marketing team understood the importance of localization and trans-creation. Not only did they study the target audience well, they also changed the tagline from time to time to attract the buyers – they never used any fancy English or translated European taglines to sell the product in India. The scheme of getting toys and gifts in return of empty Maggi packets was so close the Indian buyer’s mentality.
“Me Aur Meri Maggi aksar yeh baatein kiya kartein hain ki…. (Combining the current Maggi campaign with an old Hindi film song) Me and my Maggi often have this discussion about what will happen to the fun of slurping the hot, spicy and tasty noodles if they are taken off the shelves forever? The future of Maggi Noodles was unsure in India but with its return it is back to being the soul food for this and many generations to come.
