Nescafé Is Once Again Nestlé’s Crown Jewel: Coffee Leads The Company’s Growth In 2026

Coffee became Nestlé’s main growth driver during the first half of 2026. The category posted organic growth of 7.5%, well above the group average, with Nescafé leading the way and support from brands such as Starbucks and Nespresso. The business continues to grow even as higher coffee prices put pressure on the multinational’s margins.

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Nescafé once again demonstrated why it is one of the most important brands in Nestlé’s global portfolio. The company’s financial results for the first half of 2026 reveal that Coffee was the food giant’s fastest-growing category, with organic growth of 7.5%.

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The figure is nearly double the 3.6% organic growth recorded by Nestlé across its operations during the first six months of the year.

According to the financial report, growth in the coffee business was led primarily by Nescafé, while Starbucks and Nespresso also contributed during the second quarter.

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How much did Nestlé’s coffee business grow in 2026?

Coffee was clearly Nestlé’s best-performing category during the first half of the year.

Between January and June 2026, sales from the coffee business reached approximately CHF 12.126 billion, compared with CHF 12.016 billion during the same period in 2025.

However, the most relevant figure is organic growth. The category recorded:

• 7.5% organic growth.
• 2.9% Real Internal Growth (RIG).
• 4.7% growth from pricing.

None of Nestlé’s other major categories reached that level of growth during the half-year period.

Food & Snacks grew 3.7%; Petcare, 2.7%; Waters & Premium Beverages, 5.1%; while Nutrition declined 1.2%. Coffee therefore performed considerably above the group’s 3.6% organic growth.

Nescafé drives Nestlé’s growth

Nestlé directly identifies Nescafé as one of the main drivers of Coffee’s growth.

During the second quarter, the category achieved organic growth of 5.8%, consisting of 2.2% RIG and 3.6% pricing.

The company explained that all regions contributed to the performance, while Nescafé, Starbucks and Nespresso led growth, partially offset by lower activity in Coffee mate.

Nescafé also has a strategic characteristic for Nestlé: it can operate both as a mass-market brand within the company’s traditional businesses and as a platform for capturing new consumption occasions.

Nestlé CEO Philipp Navratil specifically used Nescafé to explain the company’s new growth model to investors.

In markets such as Europe, Nescafé Gold forms part of the core business, while in other geographies the company sees greater structural opportunities in areas such as cold coffee, emerging markets and out-of-home consumption.

This flexibility makes the brand a tool capable of growing through different formats, price points, channels and consumer segments.

How important is coffee to Nestlé?

The numbers show that Coffee is one of the group’s economic pillars.

With approximately CHF 12.1 billion in sales during the first half, the category represented around 28% of Nestlé’s global sales during the period.

In other words, approximately one out of every four Swiss francs in Nestlé revenue comes from the coffee business, based on the CHF 43.1 billion in total sales reported by the group.

In addition to Nescafé, the portfolio includes brands and systems such as Nespresso and Starbucks, allowing the company to compete across everything from mass-market soluble coffee to premium products, capsules, ready-to-drink beverages and out-of-home consumption.

This breadth helps explain why coffee consistently appears among the company’s main growth platforms.

How is Nescafé growing in the Americas?

The performance is particularly relevant in Zone Americas, where Nestlé also highlighted growth in Mexico and Brazil.

During the second quarter, the coffee business accounted for approximately 20% of sales in the region and achieved mid-single-digit organic growth.

Nestlé said that Nescafé recorded double-digit growth across all major markets in the Americas, reflecting, according to the company, the strength of the brand and its value proposition for consumers.

Coffee performance, however, differed inside and outside the United States.

In the U.S. market, higher pricing led to a decline in RIG. Outside the United States, by contrast, real internal growth strengthened as pricing pressure began to ease.

For Zone Americas as a whole, Starbucks achieved growth driven mainly by pricing, while Coffee mate declined.

What role do Mexico and Latin America play for Nestlé?

Coffee growth is taking place within a region where Latin America is showing particularly favorable performance.

During Q2, Latin America recorded organic growth of 5.8%, with RIG of 4.2% and pricing of 1.5%.

Mexico and Brazil were specifically identified by Nestlé as the main drivers of RIG in Zone Americas, with acceleration in both markets as pricing pressure eased.

The report does not provide an individual figure for Nescafé sales in Mexico, so it is not possible to determine exactly how much the brand grew in the country based on the financial documents.

Nevertheless, the combination of two data points is relevant: Mexico is among the main markets driving real internal growth in the Americas and, at the same time, Nestlé reports double-digit growth for Nescafé across its major markets in the zone.

How is Nescafé growing in Asia, Africa and Europe?

The brand’s growth is not limited to the Americas.

Within Zone Asia, Oceania and Africa, Coffee represents approximately 26% of sales.

During Q2, the business achieved high-single-digit organic growth, driven primarily by RIG and by a moderation in previously implemented price increases.

Growth was led by Nescafé in both soluble coffee and ready-to-drink products, with positive performance across most markets. The report also highlights strong expansion in emerging markets across Asia and Africa.

The AOA region achieved total organic growth of 6.5% during the second quarter, with RIG of 4.8%. Excluding China, organic growth reached 7.7%.

Europe also contributed to the category’s growth.

Coffee represents approximately 29% of Nestlé’s sales in the region, where it achieved high-single-digit organic growth during Q2, mainly driven by RIG.

Nescafé soluble coffee was one of the main growth drivers, alongside portioned coffee and ready-to-drink beverages.

Is Nespresso also growing?

Nespresso, which Nestlé manages as a separate global business, also recorded growth during the half-year period.

Its organic growth reached 4.3% during H1 2026, with RIG of 1.7% and pricing of 2.6%.

Reported sales were approximately CHF 3.1 billion.

During Q2, organic growth moderated to 3.4%, with RIG of 1.5% and pricing of 2%. One of the brand’s main priorities is expanding its consumer base, particularly in North America.

The Vertuo system remains one of its growth drivers, supported by the expansion of the Vertuo Up machine, which is now available in nearly 50 markets.

Why are coffee prices also a problem for Nestlé?

This is where one of the most notable contradictions in Nestlé’s financial results emerges.

Coffee is simultaneously its fastest-growing category and one of the main sources of pressure on its profits.

The company explained that high coffee and cocoa prices affected its gross margin during the first half of the year.

The group’s gross margin declined 20 basis points to 46.4%, due to the impact of higher coffee and cocoa costs, the infant formula recall and tariffs, partially offset by price increases and savings.

The impact can also be seen directly in Coffee’s profitability.

The category’s UTOP margin declined from 20.0% in H1 2025 to 19.0% in H1 2026, a decrease of approximately 100 basis points.

This means Nestlé is managing to sell more coffee and raise prices, but the cost of raw materials is still absorbing part of the benefit generated by that growth.

Will Nestlé raise coffee prices again?

The results show that pricing remains important for the category.

During H1, pricing within Coffee increased 4.7%, compared with RIG of 2.9%.

However, the pressure began to moderate in the second quarter.

In Q2, Coffee recorded pricing of 3.6%, lower than previously recorded, while RIG remained positive at 2.2%.

The strategy illustrates the balance Nestlé needs to maintain: passing part of the increase in raw material costs on to consumers without causing an excessive decline in volume.

In the United States, there are already signs of this elasticity. During its investor call, Nestlé acknowledged that recent Starbucks price increases initially affected coffee RIG in that market.