Nestlé’s New CEO To Drive Focus On Wellness

VEVEY, Switzerland  Nestlé has named Ulf Mark Schneider as its next CEO, as the company prepares to shift its focus towards nutrition, health and wellness.

Joining Nestlé on 1 September 2016 for an introductory period, the current boss of German healthcare group Fresenius will concentrate on accelerating Nestlé’s journey to become the world’s preeminent nutrition, health and wellness company whilst fostering Nestlé’s values and principles.

“With consumers around the world taking a deeper interest in their personal health and wellbeing, Nestlé’s industry-leading global food and beverage business positions it well for advancing the vision of Nutrition, Health and Wellness,” commented Schneider.

“I very much look forward to working with the Nestlé team and all Nestlé stakeholders as we continue to pursue this vision,” he added.

As Nestlé’s first external hire for the CEO job in nearly a century, over the past 13 years Schneider has been one of the driving forces behind Fresenius’ growth.

Today, with over 220,000 employees in more than 100 countries and annual sales €28 billion, Fresenius is one of the world’s leading diversified healthcare companies.

Together with Chairman of the Board, Paul Bulcke, who is highly experienced in the area of fast moving consumer goods, Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe argues that the Swiss food giant will be “well prepared to face the increasingly difficult external environment and deliver on both its long-term and short-term performance goals.”

During the past five years, Nestlé has invested heavily in its health-science subsidiary, which offers commercial solutions for people with specific dietary needs related to illnesses, disease states or the special challenges of different life stages.

Recognising the potential opportunities associated with the health and wellness industry, which is growing at a much higher rate than the food and beverage industry, it is unsurprising that Nestlé has decided to strengthen this division of the business.

And as more and more packaged food companies face disruption over criticism surrounding the sale of products that are high in sugar, fat and salt, it is likely that other big players will make drastic changes to their business models too.