Nestle reshuffles infant nutrition segment

LONDON: Nest le, the world’ s largest packaged food company, said yesterday it would reorganise its infant nutrition business to try to improve its performance.

The Swiss company said beginning January 1, the unit would be managed regionally, not globally.

Nestle said it would create a “strategic business unit” to keep a global nutrition strategy that would manage global functions such as innovation, quality man- agement, compliance and global manufacturing capacity.

A nutrition business head will then be appointed for each of its three regions to implement that strategy in local markets.

“The new organisation will allow Nestle’s infant nutrition business to deliver accelerated organic growth and realise further efficiency gains,” said Nestle.

Nestle is also the world’s biggest infant formula maker, and leader in the key Chinese market. The company also announced two management departures.

Stefan Catsicas, its chief technology officer, is leaving “to pursue entrepreneurial and venture capital activities outside Nestle”. He will be replaced by Stefan Palzer at the start of the year.

Palzer has been head of the Nestle Research Centre since 2016.

Heiko Schipper, deputy executive vice-president in charge of Nestle Nutrition, is also leaving at the end of the year.