Nestle has today posted higher-than-expected sales growth in the first three months of the year after good momentum in the US and China.
This puts it on track to meet its goal of more than 3% organic growth this year.
The world's biggest food group, with brands such as Maggi soup and KitKat bars, said its biggest markets, the US and China, had shown a strong trend in the quarter.
It said the largest contributions had come from pet care, dairy and infant nutrition.
Nestle and its peers are trying to buck a consumer trend towards fresh, locally produced foods, which has hit sales of packaged goods, by focusing on fast-growing categories like infant formula and coffee.
The company, based in Vevey in Switzerland, said organic or self-generated sales growth accelerated to 3.4% in the first quarter.
This was ahead of the average 2.8% in a poll of analysts and growth of 2.8% a year ago.
"Our increased speed, innovation for a changing world and execution focus are clearly paying off," chief executive Mark Schneider said.
"We confirm our outlook for the year," he added.
Nestle also said efforts to gear its portfolio more towards health and wellness, and fix or dispose of underperforming brands, were on track.
It expects strategic reviews of its skin health and Herta meats businesses to be completed by mid and late-2019 respectively.
Sales volume growth held up well in the quarter and pricing improved, thanks to price increases in Brazil and the US, Nestle said.
China maintained mid single-digit growth thanks notably to premium infant formula and Nescafe.
Acquisitions of a license to sell Starbucks coffee and of Atrium Innovations, which are not included in organic growth, helped increase overall sales to 22.2 billion Swiss francs.
French yogurt maker Danone yesterday posted underlying quarterly sales growth of 0.8%, hit by setbacks in China and Morocco, but said it expected sales growth to accelerate from the second quarter.
Anglo-Dutch Unilever said today that its underlying sales grew 3.1% in the first quarter.
