Nestlé sets sights on healthy future
functional food brands, Nestle CEO yesterday told journalists that
the group is to reposition itself to focus on nutrition and health.
Nestle chief executive Peter Brabeck said yesterday that nutrition would be the focus of the world's largest food company's acquisition strategy in the future, according to a Reuters report.
"I betray no great secrets when I say nutrition will be the focus of our acquisition strategy," Brabeck told journalists during a news conference.
News that the company is to reposition itself from a food and beverage company into a wellness and well-being company came after the company reported a 6 per cent increase in consolidated sales during the first nine months of 2002.
However, Brabeck did not mention if Nestle would buy the health and functional food operations of Novartis, up for sale since February this year. Nestle is thought to be a potential bidder for Novartis' health food and slimming products Cereal and Gerble.
While the group did not achieve its benchmark real internal growth (RIG) target of 4 per cent, Brabeck said that Nestle could improve its growth rate in the remaining months of 2002.
"Nestle succeeded in maintaining profitable growth despite the deteriorating economic climate. I remain confident that we will yet grow our real internal growth figure by the end of the year and that we will achieve sales and profits above those of 2001, while once again delivering further improvement in operational performance," said Brabeck.
