Consumer Giants Are Winners as Shoppers Swallow Price Hikes

Jars of Nescafe Gold coffee by Nestle in the supermarket of Nestle headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, on Feb. 13, 2020. Pierre Albouy/Reuters

ZURICH/LONDON—Nestle and Procter & Gamble, the world’s two biggest consumer firms, reported better-than-expected sales on Wednesday, as shoppers continued to pay more for goods like Nescafe coffee and Gillette razors despite record inflation.

Nestle, which also makes Cheerios cereal and KitKat chocolate bars, reported better-than-expected sales results, successfully passing higher costs on to shoppers as rocketing food prices around the world drive record inflation.