Despite strong organic sales growth and market share gains in the first quarter, Nestlé’s CEO warned market analysts yesterday against “excessive margin growth expectations,” and cautioned the company could raise prices later this year or early next to offset pandemic-related inflation. The company posted April 22 organic growth of 7.7% with 6.4% real internal growth during the first three months of the year – its largest increase in quarterly sales in almost a decade and almost double analyst expectations of 3.3%. The jump was driven primarily by increased demand by consumers still stuck at home during the pandemic for coffee, including Nespresso pods, Nescafe instant coffee and Starbucks-branded products, as well as a double-digit increase in dairy based on elevated demand for home-baking products and fortified milk, according to the company, which also called out increased demand for pet food.