(Nov 29): India and China are key coffee markets for Nestlé SA, with the food giant bullish on the outlook for consumption growth in the world’s most populous countries, according to the global head of strategy.

“We have a really strong footprint in Asia, and we are really bullish about those markets that have very low per capita consumption,” Philipp Navratil, the head of Nestlé’s coffee strategic business unit, said in an interview in Vietnam’s Dak Lak province. “China is really a big focus, and India is a big focus.”

Nestlé’s presence in Asia includes instant coffee operations in Vietnam, which is the world’s biggest producer of robusta beans. Futures for the variety in London surged to a record earlier this year on concerns around tightening supply, and the onset of El Niño is expected to bring drier conditions in growing areas.

Navratil said the Philippines and Thailand are key markets for the Swiss maker of Nespresso and Nescafe, including for soluble and ready-to-drink products. He added that Pakistan and Africa are other regions for consumption growth.

“In India, China, sub-Saharan Africa, there’s four billion people that drink less than 20 cups per year” on average, Navratil said. There’s an opportunity “to really build coffee markets out of those huge populations”, he said.