The largest food company in the world, Nestle SA (NESN), has plans to spend $8.8 billion in its first share buyback in the past three years after it reported a revenue growth that exceeded all estimates by analysts.

The Switzerland-based maker of chocolates and coffee said that it gained revenue of 4.7% in the first half, which excludes divestments, acquisitions as well as currency shifts. Many analysts had estimated its revenue to be 4.5%

Nestle said repurchases of stocks will commence this year and will go on till 2015. The shares increased 3.4%, which is the biggest gain in a day in nine months.

The main European rivals of Nestle, Unilever and Danone were also out-numbered in first-half sales growth. The gap is increasing by returning cash to shareholders through the repurchases that Nestle is making. Nestle is funding the buyback from selling a part of its stake in L'Oreal SA, a French cosmetic company. This will, in turn, boost the profit in second-half by 7.4 billion francs.

"We've had a few disappointments in the food industry lately, but Nestle has managed to report numbers that are slightly better than expected", said Patrik Lang, an analyst in Zurich.

Nestle expects wide profit margins this year on a constant currency basis, but the expansion in the second half will be lesser than the 0.3% improvement in the first-half.

Food companies are now struggling to boost their growth as consumers are increasingly becoming health-conscious and avoiding processed and packaged foods. In a 2013 survey done on food, sweet snacks, soda and frozen foods are the three biggest health concerns for mothers in the US.

Nestle is making efforts to generate more sales from premium products as well as from healthcare and nutrition goods.