Nestl\u00e9 Q1 2026 sales performance \u2013 summaryNestl\u00e9 Q1 2026 organic growth up 3.5 percent amid multiple crisesReal internal growth reached 1.2 percent driven partly by pricingCoffee and Confectionery led volumes while infant formula dragged resultsEmerging markets outperformed with 6.8 percent organic growth excluding ChinaFull-year outlook maintained with improving margins and strong cash flow<\/p>\n
Nestl\u00e9\u2019s 2026 Q1 sales are out and, considering the multinational was hit by a major infant formula contamination<\/a> crisis in the opening days of the year, the figures are looking strong.<\/p>\n Organic growth (OG) is up 3.5% and real internal growth (RIG) is up 1.2%.<\/p>\n \u201cOur first-quarter performance demonstrates that our RIG-led growth strategy is delivering,\u201d says Nestl\u00e9 CEO, Philipp Navratil.<\/p>\n Though the maker of big-name brands like KitKat, Nespresso and Shreddies attributes this to price increases of 2.3%.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, when we dig deeper into the numbers, we find that RIG was positive in all categories except infant formula within Nutrition, pushing it into the red at -3.5%.<\/p>\n Infant formula scandal<\/p>\n Nestl\u00e9 is facing an ongoing global health scandal, following the recall of a number of its infant formula products, including SMA Follow-on Milk, in January this year.<\/p>\n The food and beverage giant issued the alert amid concerns the products contained cereulide, a toxin that can cause nausea and vomiting when consumed.<\/p>\n There are currently no confirmed cases of sickness relating to the withdrawn products, however investigations are ongoing.<\/p>\n Danone<\/a> and Lactalis<\/a> also issued product recalls over suspected cereulide contamination.<\/p>\n CEO Philipp Navratil, made no mention of the infant formula case in his statement on the sales report, but we\u2019re expecting it to feature heavily in the follow-up investor call later today.<\/p>\n He did however focus on the company\u2019s biggest growth drivers, saying, \u201cresults were strong across most Zones and categories, particularly in Coffee and Food & Snacks\u201d.<\/p>\n Coffee and Confectionery power growth<\/p>\n With powerhouse brands like Nespresso and Nescaf\u00e9 in its portfolio, it\u2019s little surprise Coffee continues to rank among Nestl\u00e9\u2019s largest and most strategically important categories. The division remains a key engine for growth, delivering 3.5% RIG, and underlining its resilience.<\/p>\n Meanwhile momentum is also building elsewhere in the group. Food & Snacks is steadily climbing the rankings, posting a 2.1% uplift in RIG, as consumer appetite for indulgent and everyday treats remains robust. Within the category, Confectionery is leading the charge, emerging as a standout performer and an increasingly important contributor to Nestl\u00e9\u2019s volume\u2011led growth.<\/p>\n Emerging and established markets<\/p>\n Regionally, emerging markets once again delivered the strongest performance, underscoring their role as a key focus for the group. Organic growth reached 6.8%, supported by robust real internal growth of 2.9%.<\/p>\n By contrast, there\u2019s little change in developed markets. Performance across Europe was described as solid, pointing to stable consumer demand despite a still\u2011challenging macroeconomic backdrop. And the US business continued to show resilience, with growth holding up amid ongoing cost and pricing pressures.<\/p>\n At group level, Nestl\u00e9 noted the drag from the infant formula recall, which weighed on both organic growth and RIG by approximately 90 basis points in the first quarter of 2026. Product availability was said to have now returned to \u201cnormal levels, setting the stage for recovery \u2013 whether consumers return in pre-contamination numbers, however, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n Nestl\u00e9\u2019s outlook<\/p>\n Despite a rocky start to the year, Nestl\u00e9 appears positive about its future.<\/p>\n Full-year organic growth is expected to come in around 3% to 4%, with real internal growth \u201caccelerating versus 2025\u2033, supported by the group\u2019s focused growth initiatives and continued execution across key categories and markets.<\/p>\n Profitability is also expected to improve, with the underlying trading operating profit (UTOP) margin forecast to strengthen compared with last year, supported by efficiency measures and pricing discipline. <\/p>\n Finally, free cash flow is expected to exceed CHF 9bn (\u20ac9.8bn), underlining just how confident the world\u2019s biggest CPG is in its earnings quality, capital allocation and balance\u2011sheet strength.<\/p>\n \u201cOur first-quarter performance demonstrates that our RIG-led growth strategy is delivering,\u201d says CEO Navratil. Building on the momentum in the first quarter, we continue to execute our strategy to deliver a stronger Nestl\u00e9. <\/p>\n For now, the numbers suggest Nestl\u00e9 is weathering the storm better than many might have expected. Strong performances in Coffee and Confectionery are helping to offset the drag from infant formula, while management\u2019s confident guidance signals belief in the group\u2019s underlying momentum. <\/p>\n Still, with investigations ongoing and trust yet to be fully rebuilt in Nutrition, the coming quarters will be a key test of whether Nestl\u00e9\u2019s RIG\u2011led strategy can continue to deliver, or whether recent crises leave a deeper mark on growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nestl\u00e9 Q1 2026 sales performance \u2013 summaryNestl\u00e9 Q1 2026 organic growth up 3.5 percent amid multiple crisesReal internal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[126],"tags":[147,1119,1121,1122,1124,1126,1127,30455,30456,6023,1129,8467,21632,30457,1131,272,30458,30459,30460,30461,1134,30462,199,30464,30463,29949,30465,2543,1137,1139,41],"class_list":["post-54166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nestle","tag-advertising","tag-beverage","tag-brand","tag-building","tag-company","tag-corporate","tag-corporation","tag-emblem","tag-entrance","tag-european","tag-exterior","tag-french","tag-front","tag-head-office","tag-headquarter","tag-international","tag-issy","tag-issy-les-moulineaux","tag-logotype","tag-main-office","tag-multinational","tag-name","tag-nestle","tag-nestle-france","tag-nestle-headquarter","tag-nestle-office","tag-outdoor","tag-paris","tag-product","tag-signage","tag-swiss"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116453219056296452","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}