Nestle launches new luxury chocs despite turmoil
VEVEY, Switzerland, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.VX), the world's biggest food group, is to launch a new range of luxury chocolates, and said it was not worried about customers trading down to cheaper products in recessionary times.
Nestle is introducing the range in collaboration with Belgian chocolatier Pierre Marcolini to complement its booming premium coffee business, Nespresso, which recorded 30 percent underlying growth in the first nine months of the year.
Expanding premium products is one of the pillars of Nestle's strategy, but it comes at a time when slowing global economic growth is prompting many consumers to opt for cheaper products and switch from big brands to private-label alternatives.
Lars Olafsson, Nestle's head of marketing and sales, said the strongest growth in the chocolate market was coming from emerging markets and premium products, and the new Nespresso chocolates were a way of tapping into that.
Chief Executive Paul Bulcke said Nestle was also rolling out a new brand of premium baby food called NaturNes.
Earlier on Thursday, the world's biggest food group reported a forecast-beating 8.9 percent rise in nine-month underlying sales, helped in part by its premium brands like Nespresso. [ID:nLM110369]
Investor relations head Roddy Child-Villiers said Nestle products had relatively limited exposure to downtrading, except in bottled water, where it had seen some switching to lower-price brands in North America and western Europe. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson, editing by Will Waterman)
