Nestlé’s volume recovery is real.
The number is 1.8%.
Nestlé’s most important figure in 2026 is not the headline sales decline. It’s 1.8%.
That’s the Real Internal Growth (RIG) rate the company posted in the second quarter of 2026, up from 1.5% in the first half and 1.2% in the first quarter. Management’s medium-term target is 2.0% or higher, and the gap is closing. For a business that spent 2025 growing almost entirely through price, that acceleration is the story. Everything else here is context.
Reported sales tell a noisier story. Full-year 2025 sales reached CHF 89,490 million, down 2.0% year on year, dragged by a foreign-exchange headwind of 5.7%. Organic growth for the year was 3.5%, split between 2.8% pricing and just 0.8% RIG. Underlying trading operating profit (UTOP) was CHF 14,389 million. The margin compressed 110 basis points to 16.1% as coffee and cocoa input costs rose and marketing spend increased. Free cash flow held at CHF 9,154 million.
The pattern continued into 2026. First-quarter reported sales were CHF 21,317 million, down 5.7% as currency movements subtracted 9.3 points. Organic growth held at 3.5%, now built on 1.2% RIG and 2.3% pricing. By the half-year mark, reported sales reached CHF 43,109 million, down 2.5% with FX deducting 6.2 points. Organic growth rose to 3.6%, RIG climbed to 1.5%, and pricing moderated to 2.1%. UTOP for H1 2026 was CHF 7,081 million, a margin of 16.4%, down 10 basis points on a reported basis but flat in constant currency. Free cash flow jumped 46.3% year on year to CHF 3,375 million.
