Nestlé has recently confirmed a major strategic adjustment in its China operations. Starting January 1, 2026, its Wyeth Nutrition business in China will be merged with Nestlé’s infant nutrition business to form a unified “Nestlé Nutrition” division. This move marks the end of the company’s long-standing “dual-track” strategy, under which Wyeth and Nestlé operated independently in China for 13 years following Nestlé’s acquisition of Wyeth Nutrition for over USD 10 billion in 2012.
The decision is widely seen as a decisive response to mounting market challenges. At its peak, Wyeth leveraged its premium positioning and strong brand power to achieve spectacular success in China, with sales surpassing RMB 10 billion in 2015, making it the first foreign infant formula brand to reach that milestone. However, as China’s birth rate declines, the infant formula market has shifted from rapid growth to intense competition within a shrinking total demand.
At the same time, domestic brands led by Feihe and Yili have risen strongly. By deeply penetrating lower-tier markets and deploying agile marketing strategies, these homegrown players have not only solidified their positions but have also begun to reclaim territory in first- and second-tier cities once dominated by foreign brands. Nestlé’s market share, including Wyeth, has fallen behind significantly since 2019, when it was still on par with Feihe, and by 2022 the gap had become clearly evident.
Another key driver behind the merger is rising cost pressure and a broader shift in Nestlé’s global strategy. Under the leadership of its new CEO, Laurent Freixe, the group is aggressively pushing a “simplified organization” strategy and plans to cut approximately 16,000 jobs worldwide. Against this backdrop, maintaining two independent operational systems in China has become increasingly costly and inefficient.
It is worth noting that Nestlé has emphasized that the merger will not disrupt existing operations and that Wyeth’s companies and brands will continue to serve consumers as usual. However, the challenges of integration are already coming into view. Two teams that have operated independently for over a decade will now need to be deeply integrated across corporate culture, internal systems, and channel strategies.
How Nestlé retains key talent, aligns management structures, and establishes a unified and healthy channel management system—particularly to address long-standing issues such as price conflicts—will be critical to achieving true “1+1>2” synergies from this merger.
For Nestlé, this move is not just about weathering the current downturn in performance. It represents a pivotal step in transforming its China strategy from being channel-driven to demand-driven, and in re-integrating resources to reignite growth momentum. Yet with domestic infant formula brands now firmly in the driver’s seat, whether this long-awaited integration can help Nestlé reclaim a leading position in the market remains a question that only time can answer.
