Nestlé Prioritises Health Science in Transformation Strategy

Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company, operates across 187 countries with a portfolio exceeding 2,000 brands.

This year the company convened its 159th Annual General Meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, where shareholders approved the annual review detailing financial performance, business transformation and sustainability advancements.

The company's strategic direction increasingly emphasises health-focused innovation and nutritional advancement, positioning wellness at the core of its transformation strategy.

As of the end of 2025, powdered and liquid beverages represented the largest segment of Nestlé's portfolio, accounting for 28.1% of sales. Pet care brands contributed 20.6% of sales, while nutrition and health science products comprised 16% of total revenue.

Throughout 2025, Nestlé concentrated growth efforts within its coffee, pet care and nutrition and health business areas.

The coffee division remains Nestlé's largest business, anchored by three prominent brands: Nescafé, Nespresso and Starbucks. The company has enhanced its capacity for faster regional distribution to meet rising demand for cold coffee products across Asia.

Nutrition-focused pet care solutions

Within the pet care sector, Nestlé's Purina brand leads the North American market. The company is advancing growth through veterinary partnerships focused on pet health, utilising its research and development capabilities to formulate pet food addressing multiple health conditions including obesity and diabetes.

Pablo Isla, chairman of the board at Nestlé, says: "Strong corporate governance is the foundation of our company and its future success. Our goal is to continuously strengthen our effectiveness by regularly appointing new independent directors with diverse areas of expertise."

He continues: "Our focus is on driving real internal growth, fostering a performance culture and transforming the company to make it more efficient and digitally empowered.

“We are acting with a new sense of urgency and, through our efforts, are generating savings for reinvestment.”

Nestlé aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2025 and achieved a 24.5% net reduction against its 2018 baseline. The company targets a further 50% reduction by 2030 as part of its net zero trajectory.

Medical nutrition and wellness expansion

Nestlé is broadening its nutrition focus, pursuing growth in categories such as vitamins, minerals and supplements, active nutrition and medical nutrition. The Health Science division delivers medical nutrition for patients unable to consume food orally, leveraging data on patient preferences to develop its portfolio with familiar food ingredients and plant-based alternatives.

According to the company's annual review, sales of its Compleat real food tube-feeding solutions increased by approximately one-third during 2025. This growth followed optimised marketing strategies, influencer engagement, communications with healthcare professionals and targeted campaigns within the medical community.

Nestlé has been gathering data-driven consumer insights to create innovation pipelines for preferred products. The company aims to respond to emerging trends, including modern cooking techniques, new flavours and textures, frequent small meals and nutrition goals across various life stages.

In response to the growing popularity of high-protein foods and beverages, the company launched Milo Pro, containing 3 times more protein than traditional Milo drinks. These products target teenagers and young adults seeking to support active lifestyles, available in ready-to-drink or powder formats.

Brand partnerships and future innovation

The company is also engaging with brands to expand its cultural presence, particularly through its new partnership with Formula 1. In 2025, KitKat became the Official Chocolate Bar of Formula 1, reaching a young and diverse fan base exceeding 825 million people across global markets.

Looking ahead, Nestlé plans to unlock resources needed for investment at scale by generating efficiencies and cost savings by the end of 2027.

The company is expanding its growth platforms from 10% to 30% of sales, expected to deliver high single-digit growth.

Multi-year innovation pipelines based on consumer insights will extend beyond individual products to encompass entire product ranges, with particular focus on scaling innovations within the coffee category to align with growing interest in cold coffee products, especially among younger generations.

Philipp Navratil, CEO of Nestlé, says: “In 2025, we laid a strong foundation for long-term success. As we look ahead, accelerating our progress will be essential to achieving our ambitious financial and sustainability goals.

“The next few years at Nestlé will be marked by change, and our future is promising. I am confident that with our people, capabilities and brands, we are well-positioned to succeed.”