Nestle apologies for KitKat packs; says packs withdrawn last year

Nestle India has apologised for depicting images of Hindu Gods on some packs of its chocolate brand KitKat, adding that it withdrew packs of the same mid last year.

“We had withdrawn these packs from the market last year. We understand the sensitivity of the matter and regret if we have inadvertently hurt anyone’s sentiment,” a Nestle India spokesperson said.

Certain packs of KitKat depicted images of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Mata Subhadra on wrappers.

The company said it is also responding individually to all those who have raised queries or objected to the packaging. Consumers across social media have accused the company of hurting religious sentiments by showing images of Hindu Gods on its chocolate brand wrappers.

According to the company, these were travel packs meant to celebrate “beautiful local destinations”.

The packaged foods company, which also makes Maggi instant noodles and Nescafe coffee, said it wanted to celebrate the culture of Odisha with designs on packs representing the ancient Pattachitra art form.

This is the second such incident for Nestle. Last year in April, the company had apologised for wrongly depicting Manipur’s Keibul Lamjao national park as located in Meghalaya on certain packs of its KitKat chocolate, after objections by authorities from the state government. Packs of the specific batch of KitKat had also displayed a picture of a Red Panda, a species which is not found at the Keibul Lamjao national park.