NESTLE has increased its growth forecasts after growing market share and volume sales in the first nine months of the year.

Its confectionery business, which employs 1,800 people in York, grew market share slightly from 16 per cent at September 10, 2010, to 16.6 per cent for the same period this year.

Aero, which is made in York, grew market share by 16 per cent, with Rowntree’s and Rolo growing 22 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.

The company said this growth was based on innovation in the products, for example, the development of Aero Biscuits and Aero Caramel.

KitKat, which is also made in York, kept its market share static at 4.5 per cent of the entire confectionery market, and was introduced into Brazil during the period.

Paul Grimwood, chairman and chief executive of Nestlé UK & Ireland, said he was “satisfied” with the performance.

He said: “The economy remains difficult, very challenging and unlikely to improve in the near future. There is a noticeable change in how shoppers are spending their money. There is more consideration on how and what they buy as disposable income goes down and cost of living goes up. For the remainder of the year we will be mindful of what our consumers are going through and we must be flexible and tightly control our costs to deliver great value.

“Overall, the business is growing market share in the majority of categories and this is a good measure of our effectiveness in a challenging market place.

“Innovation and renovation is key to our business and we have introduced new recipes and products into the market that are working well for us.”

Although volume sales were up, total group revenue was reported as 60.9 billion Swiss francs, down from 70.4 billion Swiss francs in the same period last year because of the effects of the strong Swiss franc, decreasing sales by 15.1 per cent, and discontinuation of operations, such as eye care product company Alcon, which it sold to Novartis.