Nestle plans to reorganise nutrition unit

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

The Swiss company said from Jan 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 will manage global functions such as innovation, quality management, 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,” Nestle said.

“The more agile and efficient structure will enable Nestle to respond faster to rapidly changing local consumer preferences, evolving regulation, and customer and channel demand for tailor-made solutions.”

Nestle is also the world’s biggest infant formula maker, and the 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.

Stefan Palzer has been head of the Nestle Research Center since 2016.

Heiko Schipper, deputy executive vice president in charge of Nestle Nutrition, is also leaving at the end of the year, going to Bayer AG as head of its consumer health business.