FRANKFURT, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Nestle is mulling a move towards a greater focus on "well-being" as it seeks higher-margin business for the future, its chairman said.
"It's a more holistic concept," Peter Brabeck told Frankfurt's ICFW business journalists club late on Monday in remarks for release on Tuesday.
The focus would be more on personal care offerings for customers that would create higher value for the company, Brabeck said, adding that no decision on a strategy shift had been taken and that the issue was still under discussion.
Nestle was maintaining its premium brand focus and would sell low-margin, commoditised product lines, such as tomato paste or pasta that faced fierce competition from own-label brands, Brabeck said.
"We will increase value but we will not cut prices," he said.
Brabeck declined to comment on whether Nestle might counterbid for Cadbury after the British confectionery group rejected a 10.2 billion pound offer from U.S.-based Kraft.
Nestle Chief Executive Paul Bulcke, who took over the helm from Brabeck in April last year, has said the group planned no big acquisitions this year or next, though it was always open to opportunities. He has also declined to comment on Cadbury.
Brabeck said there were no changes planned for its 30 percent stake in French beauty products maker L'Oreal for the time being.
"Currently, L'Oreal is a financial investment, not a strategic one," he said.
Nestle and France's Bettencourt family, which also holds about 30 percent of L'Oreal, said in April they would continue to work together on the world's biggest cosmetics company after a shareholder pact expired.
Speculation had been rife over whether Nestle might seek a full takeover or dispose of the stake after the pact expired.
Asked whether the implication of becoming a "well-being" company meant Nestle should immediately buy L'Oreal, Brabeck said: "I don't see it that way." (Editing by Simon Jessop)