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STORY: Nestle is making some big decisions as sales flag.

The Swiss giant on Thursday reported that growth fell short of forecasts.

It was just 2% over the first nine months of the year.

Sales volumes also failed to match expectations, after the firm hiked prices again.

An executive said rising costs for coffee and cocoa were among the pressures faced by the KitKat and Nescafe maker.

Both have touched repeated record highs over the past two years.

Now the company says it’s going to revamp its senior leadership and operating structure in response.

It also cut its sales outlook for the year to just 2% growth - down from 3% in earlier forecasts.

New Chief Executive Laurent Freixe said consumer demand had weakened - and was likely to stay soft over the coming months.

He took over in September, after predecessor Mark Schneider was ousted following several previous quarters of weak growth.

Among changes, Nestle will reduce the size of its executive board.

It will also merge regional units, including its Latin America and North America divisions.

Next week, analysts will be watching rival Unilever to see if fares any better.

The UK firm is forecast to see sales volumes grow by over 3%, while raising prices less than Nestle.