An expert banker helped Nestlé find ways to reduce its debt. By the 1920s Nestlé was creating new chocolate and powdered beverage products. Adding to the product line once again, Nestlé developed Nescafé in the 1930s and Nestea followed. Nescafé, a soluble powder, revolutionized coffee drinking and became an instant hit.
With the onset of the Second World War, profits plummeted. Switzerland was neutral in the war and became increasingly isolated in Europe. Many of Nestlé’s executive officers were transferred to offices in the U.S. Because of distribution problems in Europe and Asia, Nestlé opened factories in developing countries in Latin America. Production increased dramatically after America entered the war. Nescafé became a main beverage for the American servicemen in Europe and Asia. Total sales increased by $125 million from 1938 to 1945.
Nestlé continued to prosper, merging with Alimentana S.A., a company that manufactured soups and seasonings, in 1947. In the coming years, Nestlé acquired Crosse & Blackwell, Findus frozen foods, Libby’s fruit juices, and Stouffer’s frozen foods. Nescafé instant coffee sales quadrupled from 1960 to 1974, and the new technology of freeze-drying allowed the company to create a new kind of instant coffee, which they named Taster’s Choice.
Expanding its product line outside of the food market, Nestlé became a major stockholder in L’Oréal cosmetics in 1974. Soon after the company suffered with increasing oil prices and the slowing growth in industrialized countries. Foreign exchange rates decreased, in turn reducing the value of sterling, the pound, dollar and franc. Prices of coffee beans and cocoa rose radically, presenting further problems for Nestlé. The company decided to venture into the pharmaceutical industry by acquiring Alcon Laboratories, Inc. While trying to deal with unstable economic conditions and exploring its new ventures, Nestlé faced the crisis of an international boycott.