(Yicai Global) March 9 -- Nestlé SA will step up efforts to reorganize its nutrition business in China amid sluggish growth to focus on coordinating brand development with its Wyeth unit, the most popular milk powder brand in China.

Wyeth brand has become the number one infant formula brand in China since Nestle acquired it from Pfizer Inc. in 2012, Binu Jacob, senior vice-president of infant nutrition at Nestlé Greater China told Yicai Global, adding that the performance of the firm's other milk brands has been lackluster.

The Swiss conglomerate missed its financial expectations last year with a CHF89.8 billion (USD94.36 billion) revenue, up 0.4 percent annually and an organic growth rate of 2.4 percent, while net profit was CHF7.2 billion. Performance of its nutrition business, designated a high-growth market, was sluggish with 1.1 percent organic growth, down on the company's overall rate.

Although Nestlé's business in Greater China resumed growth as a whole for last year and its nutrition business in China picked up in the second half, overall growth was weak.

Nestlé aims to maintain an organic growth rate of 2 to 4 percent this year, with a focus on "growth" and "efficiency," company CEO Ulf Mark Schneider said in a financial forecast, adding that faster growth is needed from its nutrition business, especially in terms the key infant products segment.

The company has made a new round of adjustments to its infant nutrition business since late last year, especially in the Chinese market. Nestlé aims to consolidate internal businesses to address the unbalanced development of its brands in the country.

The changes started with organizational adjustments. Effective Jan. 1, its infant nutrition unit moved from the globally-managed Nestlé Nutrition unit to a regionally-managed business.

The new organization aims to offer more flexibility, facilitate the decision-making process, and help the company to better adapt to local markets. It will help Nestlé better understand Chinese consumers and market channels as well as the new directions and trends of China's economic development, and it also highlights the importance of the Chinese market, Jacob said.

The Nestlé brand and the Wyeth brand will have coordinated development plans in the Asia-Pacific region, Jacob said, adding that they will be represented together when the company negotiates with key clients this year.

Though it has already integrated some of the two brand's business units, Nestlé has no plan to fully combine the pair and they will continue to operate independently. However, they will work together by leveraging their respective advantages, especially in terms of sales channels and research and development, with the aim of achieving a "1+1=3" effect.

Nestlé is also capitalizing on its comparatively earlier entry into the Chinese market and seeks to sell more milk powder products in rural areas and snap up more market opportunities in third, fourth and fifth-tier cities.