Food giant Nestlé is seeing an easing of price pressures stemming from raw materials, transport and packaging costs, said chairman Paul Bulcke, adding that company would still increase prices.
"Price pressure is gradually easing," Bulcke told Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft in an interview published on Friday.
Nestlé has already passed on to consumers some of the increased costs via raised prices, but further hikes will be needed this year, said Bulcke, who has been chairman at the Swiss foodmaker since 2017.
Price Increases
Nestle increased its prices by 8.2% during 2022, but sales volumes - which it calls real internal growth - only increased by 0.1%.
During the third and fourth quarters of last year, the maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe instant coffee suffered lower sales volumes as cash strapped consumers cut back.
Bulcke, who was Nestlé's CEO from 2008 to 2016, was upbeat that the company would be able to increase volumes.
"For positive real internal growth on an annual basis, I remain confident," he told the newspaper. "That is important, because otherwise we lose market momentum."
Read More: 10 Ways In Which Nestlé Is Positioning Itself For The Future
Banking Relationships
Last week, chief executive Mark Schneider has said the group plans to examine its banking relationships following the planned acquisition Credit Suisse by UBS.
Schneider said the company had made a good start to 2023, although further price rises by the company were likely, to offset inflation of raw material costs.
Read More: Nestlé To Examine Banking Relationships Following Takeover Of Credit Suisse
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