Nestlé’s confectionery sales continue to climb, but signs suggest pricing may be nearing its peak.
(Image: Getty Images)
Big food has consistently increased chocolate bar prices as input costs rise, but what do Nestlé’s revenues say about consumers’ appetite to pay more?
Nestlé’s chocolate sales in summary
- Nestlé’s reported sales fell 1.8%, mainly due to currency effects
- Organic growth in confectionery rose 8.5% in H1 2025
- Pricing in chocolate increased by 10.6% due to rising cocoa costs
- Real internal growth (RIG) in confectionery dropped by 2.1%
- Coffee sales remained stable despite price increases
- E-commerce now accounts for 20.2% of Nestlé’s total sales
- Smart pricing strategy helped maintain consumer demand
- Emerging markets showed strong pricing growth but weaker volume
It began during the early days of the cost-of-living crisis – inputs went up, profits were threatened and so retail prices rose too. This inevitably led to higher chocolate and confectionery revenues for giants like Nestlé and Mondelēz International.
As is the case during most periods of economic difficulty, consumers continued to buy confectionery and chocolate as affordable treats. So sales remained stable (often rising) and revenues rose inline with price hikes.
But for how much longer can this go on? Nestlé’s half-year results suggest elements of its portfolio have reached peak price. Chocolate and coffee have seen some of the biggest periods of instability of late.
Nestlé’s overall reported sales fell 1.8%, largely due to currency effects, even as pricing increased significantly in key categories like cocoa and coffee.
Nestlé’s smart pricing strategy keeps chocolate sales sweet
However, organic sales within confectionery have steadily increased over the last 12 months, even as prices in the category rise on the back of input cost increases.
During the first half of 2024, for example, Nestlé’s confectionery pricing rose 4.9%, with organic sales up 7% to CHF 3.8m. For the same period in 2025, prices rose further and organic sales continued to climb by 8.5% to CHF 3.9m.
At this rate, Nestlé’s confectionery business could outperform 2024’s strong game of CHF 8.4m, which was up over CHF 300k on 2023.
Nestlé’s confectionery performance breakdown
| H1 2024 | H1 2025 | FY 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales (CHF) | 3.845m | 3.962 | 8.449m |
| Pricing | +4.9% | +10.6% | +6.4% |
| Organic growth | +7% | +8.5% | +6.2% |
The business’s hefty H1 performance could be a result of its “smart pricing” strategy, which sees it raise prices where needed and with the hope of retaining customers.
Is peak pricing near for Nestlé’s confectionery portfolio?
Though the good news could be short-lived; while organic sales are rising – in the face of price hikes – Nestlé‘s confectionery business showed a 2.1% dip in real internal growth. This is in contrast to 2.1% growth in H1 2024 and a flat full year 2024 performance.
So while consumers are still buying, despite continued price rises, there are signals that peak price for chocolate is approaching.
The ultimate tell of whether we’ve reached peak price will be next week when Mondelēz International releases its second quarter results.
