Nestlé Chief Financial Advisor Francois-Xavier Roger listed pet care as one of the company’s high-growth product categories, along with coffee, water, infant nutrition and consumer health care, in a nine-month sales investor presentation for 2018. Recent growth in pet care has been driven by premiumization, the acquisition of Merrick Pet Care and e-commerce sales, according to Roger.

Nestlé’s pet care segment yielded 4% organic growth in the past nine months, making it the second-highest product category in organic growth after nutrition and health science at 4.4%. The company reported 2.8% organic growth overall.

Purina, Nestlé’s principal pet care brand, has driven solid growth for Nestlé in the US, along with Coffee-mate creamers and coffee, according to Roger. Pet care accounted for $9.35 billion in sales in the nine-month period ending October 2018, up from $9.05 billion in 2017. Purina accounted for 14% of total sales in 2017, surpassing those of prepared dishes and cooking aids, water, and confectioneries.

Roger explained Nestlé has refocused on “driving growth through innovation” in all product categories following a period of little-to-no growth, and even some decline, in revenue. In September, he told investors, “organic and natural is a very strong growth platform in pet care,” and Nestlé plans to capitalize through premium Purina and Merrick pet products.

Read more about corporate strategy, financial performance, mergers and acquisitions in the pet food segment on our Business page.