ZURICH: Swiss food giant Nestle said Thursday that strong coffee sales helped raise overall turnover by 1.3 percent in the first quarter of the year.

Global sales rose to 21.1 billion Swiss francs (19.1 billion euros, $22.9 billion), an earnings statement said.

Nestle's measure of so-called organic growth, which strips out effects from acquisitions, divestments and foreign exchange movements, jumped by 7.7 percent in the first three months of 2021, as the group increased its share of growing markets, the statement added.

But the Swiss franc's strength against other major currencies meant that once global sales were converted, the overall figure was reduced by 5.3 percent, while various divestments trimmed an additional 1.0 percent, the statement said.

Nestle is transforming its portfolio of brands and has begun to increase its offer of vegetarian products to accompany a global trend, for example.

And while "coffee was the largest contributor to growth" owing to strong demand for its Nespresso, Nescafe and Starbucks brands, dairy products and pet food also contributed to the increase in organic growth.

"Vegetarian and plant-based food offerings continued to see strong double-digit growth" as well, the group noted.

Nestle has benefited from the coronavirus pandemic in that demand via supermarkets remained strong, but sales to restaurants and other food outlets suffered in 2020.

In the first months of this year, "retail sales saw solid growth and out-of-home channels saw signs of improvement," Nestle chief executive Mark Schneider said in the company statement.

The group confirmed its 2021 full-year forecast for "sustained mid single-digit organic growth," which suggests something on the order of five percent.