Despite of the increasing commodity costs, Nestle, the world's largest food group, has been able to register a strong market and sales growth in its first quarter and it believes that emerging markets and price rises have been the key driver behind it.

In the wake of soaring costs for inputs such as coffee, cocoa, milk, grain and crude oil, the Swiss-based giant has been passing all these costs to the consumers.

A Reuters poll had made a forecast of 5.7% of rise in its sales but the first three months have registered an increase of 6.4%.

The firm is aiming for a sales growth of 5-6% and higher margins in the current year when input costs are expected to rise by 8-10%.

Kepler Capital Market analyst, Jon Cox is of opinion that emerging markets would cause a very strong set of figures along with a solid performance in the developed markets.

Bryan Garnier Analyst, Deborah Aitken stated, “When looking at regional growth highlights, an improvement in Europe is worthy of mention. North America continues on the path of slow recovery while emerging markets are a key driver”.