Coffee gives Nestle a lift after commuters return to office
SALES of instant coffee and capsules surged at Nestlé as bleary-eyed commuters started to make their returns to the office.
The food giant reported “robust momentum in retail sales and a return to growth in out-of-home channels” as sales jumped 1.5pc in the first half of 2021 to 41.8bn Swiss francs (£32.9bn).
On an organic basis, stripping out currency movements and acquisitions, sales were up 8.1pc year on year. The company hiked its organic growth forecasts for the year to between 5pc and 6pc, from 3.6pc previously.
Nestlé said its coffee brands were the biggest drivers of growth in the period. It owns the Nescafe instant coffee brand, as well as coffee capsule leader Nespresso. Nestlé recently extended a tie-up with Starbucks for its ready-todrink coffee beverages, to also start selling them in south-east Asia, Oceania and Latin America.
It comes amid signs of difficulties at coffee shops, which have been struggling to tempt workers back through their doors even as more start to head into offices. It emerged earlier this week that Pret a Manger had taken steps towards launching vending and dispensing coffee machines, trademarking the name “Pret Express” at the Intellectual Property Office. The filing was first reported by the Financial Times.
Nestlé, which also owns other major names including Kitkat and Buxton Mineral Water, said Mindful Chef, the home food delivery kit maker it bought a majority stake in last year, continued to experience strong demand, even as people started eating out more and visiting supermarkets more frequently
Nestlé did, however, warn over rising commodity prices. Boss Mark Schneider said it was “taking a bit more of a cautious view to the full year as we see continued inflation in the system”.