Nestlé and Danone show sluggish sales of food giants

Nestlé warned sales growth this year will be the weakest in at least two decades, giving activist investor Dan Loeb ammunition for his campaign to overhaul the world’s largest food firm, while Danone kept its 2017 goals despite a sales slowdown in the second quarter.

Food giants such as Nestlé and Danone — customers of Kerry Group — face increasing challenges to keep pace with changing tastes.

Nestlé’s organic revenue growth will be at the lower half of its 2% to 4% forecast, the maker of Nespresso capsules, Perrier, baby food, and Purina dog food said. Sales increased 2.3% in the first six months of 2017, missing analysts’ estimates.