Nestlé is making significant progress to turn around declining sales, the food maker’s CEO told analysts on Thursday, as the company sees a rebound in snacks and frozen offerings in its key U.S. market.
Philipp Navratil, who took over Nestlé in September 2025, inherited a company facing declines in consumer spending, plus uncertainty from tariffs and volatile commodity costs. The world’s largest food company also saw some of its key segments underperform compared to the rest of the industry.
Navratil has spent much of his tenure at Nestlé boosting innovation and shedding slower-growth assets including its premium waters unit, the remainder of its ice cream business and some vitamins, minerals and supplement brands. He also announced plans soon after he took over to cut 16,000 jobs, or about 6% of Nestlé’s global workforce, over a two-year period.
So far, the plan is gaining traction. Nestlé posted third-quarter sales of $27.69 billion (22.756 billion Swiss francs,) with organic sales jumping 4%. Real internal growth, which measures volume, rose 1.8% in North America during the third quarter, compared to being down 0.6% in the prior three months.
“We are starting to see improvement in the way the organization is changing and in our financial results. This gives me confidence that we are on the right path,” Navratil told analysts. “I am pleased with our progress, but I’m not satisfied. There is much more for us to do to deliver the potential of the business. We need to continue this journey, execute relentlessly and deliver consistently.”
In the U.S., Nestlé’s biggest market, the Hot Pockets and Nespresso manufacturer said pet care remains strong while coffee offerings such as Starbucks and Nescafe are rebounding following price increases earlier this year.
Food and snacks, meanwhile, delivered “strong growth” during the third quarter, led by an improvement in confectionery and in frozen brands like Stouffer’s and DiGiorno that resulted in market share gains, according to the company.
However, the company is still struggling with Gerber and its nutrition unit, which Navratil said “underperformed our potential” in the third quarter. The baby and infant brand launched a kids hydration drink in September, a key step in turning around the 100-year-old brand.
Food makers across the industry have been struggling for years as inflation has forced consumers to rein in spending. Many companies have taken aggressive steps to preserve profits by cutting jobs, selling assets or raising prices.
Slim Jim maker Conagra Brands said in September that it plans to increase prices amid elevated shipping costs. And PepsiCo recently said it will raise prices on some chips as it deals with higher energy and agricultural costs — a sharp reversal from February when it lowered them in a bid to reignite growth.
Nestlé implemented “significant” price increases in coffee and confections last year amid surging costs for coffee and cocoa. CFO Anna Manz said there is again “upward pressure” on certain input costs, and that the Switzerland-based company could increase some prices “to the extent we can without damaging medium term consumer penetration.”
Last month, Manz told analysts Nestlé was “not happy” with its recent performance in North America and that “more needs to be done” to improve execution in the region. However, during the third-quarter earnings call on Thursday, Manz said that improving metrics highlight the company is on the right path.
“The US consumer is increasingly challenged, but our results show that our execution is improving and we are delivering performance despite a tough market,” she said.
