Despite the rumors, the Novartis ceo says that his company’s Gerber baby food business is worth keeping.

“We are concentrating on healthcare and, with that, it is obvious that some pieces, like Gerber, are not really a core business. But, having said that, it is a fantastic brand, it does extremely well, it’s growing profitably and it’s very competitive in its segment, so there is no urgent need to divest,” he told Reuters while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos.

There’s been a lot of speculation that Novartis would sell Gerber after unloading its medical nutrition business to Nestle for $2.5 billion. In fact, Nestle has expressed interest, but Vasella appears to be nixing the possibility.

Must be something about those strained vegetables…..

[tags]Gerber, Novartis[/tags]