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With first-quarter results rolling in, Jefferies consumer goods analyst Martin Deboo argues the numbers underline the issues facing the sector's largest players.

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The rate at which Nestle's organic sales rose in the first quarter of 2017 was the slowest this century but the results, issued on Thursday, were dampened by calendar effects and were a tick above analyst expectations. Dean Best reports on the key takeaways from the figures and from Nestle's discussions on the numbers with analysts.

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Front-of-pack nutritional labelling has long been a subject of fierce debate within the food industry - and between food companies and public health professionals. The launch of a coalition of multinational food and beverage companies aimed at fostering a harmonised approach across Europe, Ben Cooper writes, promises more of the same.

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Twelve chocolate and cocoa companies, including Nestle, Mondelez International, Hershey last week announced plans to work together to "end deforestation and forest degradation in the global cocoa supply chain", focusing initially on Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Ben Cooper speaks to industry and campaign representatives to set out what that plan could look like.

Nestle's travel retail unit is a US$100m-plus business, which generates the lion's share of its revenue from confectionery. Stewart Dryburgh, who heads the company's travel retail business, says the sector, while a small part of the Nestle empire, presents a strong growth avenue for the group. However, Dryburgh acknowledges it is also a competitive and fast-paced channel and those companies that want to cash in need to navigate some unique challenges. Katy Askew spoke to Dryburgh to find out more.

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Operating one of India's largest food companies is no simple task, Suresh Narayanan, the chairman and managing director of Nestle India, tells just-food in an exclusive interview at his business' headquarters, near New Delhi. The company faces an array of challenges in the market – from the recent Maggi recall, to intensifying competition, to issues like obesity and diabetes. Narayanan shares how the Switzerland-based food giant is responding in the country. 

US confectioner Ferrara Candy Company has been named as a possible suitor in the sale of Nestle's US confectionery business.

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Ferrero, the Italy-based food group behind Kinder chocolate, is reportedly weighing up a move for Nestle's confectionery business in the US, which the world's largest food maker may be ready to sell.

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An I Love Fruits range is just one of the KitKat delights Nestle will produce at its new factory in Japan when it comes on stream in August, as the company seeks to satisfy increasing appetite for locally-made chocolate brands.

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Nestle to relocate its base in Uruguay in a bid to become more efficient and to try to drive its growth in the South American country.

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Nestle has refused to be drawn on UK union claims spending of GBP1m would mean manufacturing of Blue Riband biscuits could be kept in the country - but the company has defended its plan to move production and the wider changes it is planning to make to its local confectionery business.

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Nestle has claimed it has developed the first infant formula to contain two oligosachardies contained in human breast milk, (HMOs), which are said to be associated with healthier immune systems and a reduction in the incidence of disease in babies.

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Nestle could keep production of UK biscuit brand Blue Riband in the country with a "one-off" investment of GBP1m, local union the GMB has claimed in its latest bid to put pressure on the company not to shift output to Poland.

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Cereal Partners Worldwide is to reduce the amount of sugar used in the Nestle-branded breakfast cereals it markets in the UK, one of the venture's partners has said.

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Nestle has launched a non-dairy range of Häagen-Dazs ice cream in the US to try to tap into growing consumer demand for vegan products.

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Nestle is to invest in an infant formula plant in Spain, with an eye on the manufacturing of a product for sale in China.

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Nestle, Unilever and PepsiCo have joined with other companies and financial institutions in a venture that aims to develop a new framework to encourage and measure long-term value creation.

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Nestle has outlined where it plans to focus its resources on trying to drive growth, including in the consumer health sector, just days after an activist investor bought a stake in the world's largest food maker and called on the business to shake up its "staid culture".

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Nestle has teamed up with UberEats to offer home delivery of its baby food to consumers in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.

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Third Point, a US hedge fund controlled by Daniel Loeb, has taken a CHF3.28bn (US$3.38bn) stake in Nestle - equivalent to about 1% of shares - and called for a strategy shake-up at the Swiss food giant.

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Nestle has said it would be "open" to acquiring stakes in start-ups that join the Terra accelerator programme, a scheme launched by financial services group Rabobank and US technology campus RocketSpace to support fledgling food companies.

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Nestle has announced plans to "coach the most innovative and disruptive start-ups" in the food and agricultural industry in a tie-up with an accelerator programme run by financial services group Rabobank and US technology campus RocketSpace.

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Nestle has acquired a minority stake in US online meal-kit service Freshly, the latest investment a packaged food major has made in the category.

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Cereal Partners Worldwide, the international breakfast cereal venture run by Nestle and General Mills, has launched its breakfast cereal brand Clusters in a bar format in Germany.

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Nestle today (15 June) announced it plans to "explore strategic options" for its US confectionery business, including the possible sale of the Butterfinger-to-Raisinets brands.

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Nestle is to cut the sugar and up the milk used in the recipe for kids-focused confectionery brand Milkybar.

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Nestle has confirmed it is considering proposals to boost sales in Nigeria by stepping up investment in its production and distribution networks in the country.

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Nestle said today (30 May) it plans to revamp its Maggi brand over the next three years in a move to introduce more "recognisable ingredients" and make further cuts in salt.

Nestle, set to welcome a new CEO on 1 January, has announced more changes to the make-up of its senior management team.

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Wow. Your correspondent is penning this blog following precious little sleep after the combination of a humid night in London and the emergence of the most significant event in UK history since 1945 made sleep tricky on Thursday night.