LONDON: Nestle reported slightly better-than-expected first-quarter sales on Tuesday as the world’s biggest packaged food company hiked prices to offset its tepid sales volume.

The Swiss company, which makes Maggi stock cubes, Kit Kat wafer bars and Nescafe coffee, said sales rose 5.6% to 23.5 billion Swiss francs ($26.48 billion), beating average estimate of 23.27 billion francs in a company-provided analyst consensus.

Nestle increased its prices by 9.8% during the three-month period ended March, but sales volumes – which the company calls real internal growth – fell marginally by 0.5%.

“Portfolio optimization efforts and responsible pricing helped to offset the ongoing pressures from two years of cost inflation,” Nestle CEO Mark Schneider said in a statement.

Consumer goods companies from Unilever to P&G have raised prices sharply for two years to battle rising commodities and supply chain costs that began squeezing margins during the pandemic and only grew worse when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent energy expenses to record highs. – Reuters