Nestle sees room to grow in the country and maintains investments

Nestle's sales have grown at annual pace of a digit in Brazil in recent quarters, the company considers positive result given the weakness of the economy, told Reuters the Group's Executive Vice President for the Americas, Laurent Freixe, adding that sees potential for improvement in the medium and long term.
"We have seen one-digit increase in sales, which is good within the context," says Freixe. "It's hard to make predictions. But I think there will be a period of adjustment "in the economy, he said.
He had avoided giving precise figures on the performance of the Brazilian operation. In the first half, according to the company's balance sheet, turnover of Nestlé in the Americas grew 6.6 percent, a better performance than the overall result which showed 4.5 percent advance based on price adjustments.
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"The economy will remain under pressure, but, in the medium and long term, there is potential (of growth)," he added. The Brazil is the fourth largest market of Nestlé, after United States, China and France.
Second Freixe, the Brazilian market is going through the same phenomenon seen in Europe during the crisis of 2009, when there was greater demand for premium products and also the cheapest.
The crisis, according to the Executive, affects more the intermediate products, since consumers appreciate the relationship between cost and benefit.
Examples of premium products from Nestle are the coffee capsules Nescafé Dolce Gusto and Perrier water. Among the cheapest are the Maggi noodles or milk product line Ideal. Already the intermediates include the chocolate chocolate milk and cookies Hobby.
"It is interesting to see that some of our most successful brands are premium brands. Is counterintuitive but, in the crisis, people are looking for value, "he said.
According to Freixe, Nestlé markets in Latin America most affected by the economic downturn are the commodity-dependent economies, such as Brazil and Venezuela. According to him, on regional comparison, the Colombian market has had better performance.
On investments in Brazil, Freixe declared without quote values that "nothing's changed" despite the entry of the country into a technical recession in the second quarter, once the company mira long-term.
"We believe in the potential of the country in the medium and long term, so we're keeping our plans," said the Executive.
He cited as an example the construction of a new pharmaceutical factory Galderma, a subsidiary of Nestlé Skin Health, in Hortolândia (SP), and factory of Nescafé Dolce Gusto in Montes Claros (MG), with investments of about 200 million dollars each.
The company has also invested in a youth training program through which you want to hire at least 4 million people over the next three years, promoting training of other 3 thousand. Nestle currently has 23 thousand direct employees in Brazil, where it has 31 factories.