By John Revill
ZURICH (Reuters) – Nestle investors and analysts see the early exit of the Swiss company’s chairman Paul Bulcke as an opportunity for its new leadership to speed up efforts to boost growth and tackle underperforming businesses and sluggish sales.
The management change, late on Tuesday, means that Bulcke will hand over the reins half a year earlier than planned to former Inditex CEO Pablo Isla. That comes weeks after the ouster of the Swiss food giant’s CEO over an undisclosed relationship.
The rapid exit of the two key executives, both long-term Nestle insiders, signals a potential shake-up at the company, whose shares have slumped over 40% since a peak in 2022, while a tougher consumer environment has weighed on sales.
Investors are calling for faster sales growth, more efficiencies, lower costs and more investment behind the company’s big brands, which include Nescafe instant coffee and pet food maker Purina.
The company’s shares opened slightly higher on Wednesday but soon lost those gains, edging lower.
“Nestle needs to return to calmer waters and regain its former stature,” said Bank Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy, citing years of sluggish growth, leadership missteps, corporate governance concerns and management turbulence.
“This also creates an opportunity to accelerate growth and tackle underperforming units more effectively. Further change is likely; the organisation is poised for a significant shake-up.”
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The management overhaul is the most dramatic in decades for the world’s largest consumer goods company that makes KitKat chocolate bars and Nespresso coffee, and is an investor staple in Switzerland and beyond.
Bulcke’s decision to step aside now rather than in April 2026, shortly after Laurent Freixe’s departure as CEO, clears the way for new CEO Philipp Navratil and Isla to take full charge of the company.
There had been mounting investor pressure for a complete change of Nestle’s leadership, with Freixe’s dismissal increasing the pressure for a fresh start.
Both Isla and Navratil are committed to an organic growth strategy that will “leverage efficiencies” to invest behind Nestle’s strong portfolio and brands, Nestle said on Tuesday.
Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, said he expected fresh scrutiny by management of Nestle’s portfolio.
“The strategy is likely to be the same in terms of freeing up savings to drive growth through investment in innovation, new products and advertising,” he said, adding though that Nestle could be more aggressive in savings and offloading underperformers like its frozen food business in North America.
“I would not be surprised to see more businesses being put under review,” said Cox.
(Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Rachel More and Jane Merriman)
