With high demand, Gurgaon stores limiting Maggi packs to 5 per person

Several shops in the city have stopped selling more than five packets of Maggi to a consumer as residents have started stocking the two-minute noodles in case there is another ban.

Several shops in the city have stopped selling more than five packets of Maggi to a consumer as residents have started stocking the two-minute noodles in case there is another ban.

Shopkeepers across Gurgaon said residents were crowding stores asking for Maggi. (Abhinav Saha/HT Photo)

Nestle’s Maggi was back on shelves last week and though it is costlier by `2, it had no effect on the demand. Residents said the reintroduction of Maggi has made lives much simpler. “I was surprised when I saw Maggi packets at a local store. I had little cash with me and I immediately called my roommate to come to the market with more money. I wanted to stock enough Maggi before it is banned again,” Aarti Narang, a resident of Jal Vayu Vihar in Sector 30, said.

A canteen contractor, Vishal Singh, who runs canteens at various corporate offices, said that he had to arrange for Maggi from different shops as there was high demand in his canteens. He said he was not allowed to buy more than five packets at several stores.

Shopkeepers across the city said residents were crowding stores asking for Maggi. Most of the stores have single serving packs in stock. However, people were also asking for larger packets, which were available before the ban, shopkeepers said.

“We got only two cartons initially as we were unsure whether people would be interested in buying it after concerns were raised over the safety of the product. Surprisingly, we were out of stock by the end of the day and had to order more,” a store owner at DLF Phase 1, said.

Snapdeal, an e-retail store with its office in Gurgaon, is selling Maggi online. On the first day of sale, the entire stock of 60,000 packets was sold out in five minutes. Tony Navin, the senior vice-president, partnerships and strategic initiatives of Snapdeal, said, “We are really excited about our partnership with Nestle to bring Maggi back to consumers. We have witnessed a phenomenal response to the Maggi sale.”