COMPANY REVIEW: NESTLE
NESTLE CEO, MARK SCHNEIDER
Steering Nestlé to the World’s No.1 Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company By Paul Ongeto
Mark Schneider transforms Nestlé to new growth as it responds to a food industry undergoing a revolution
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hen Henri Nestlé brought an infant formula to the market in the small Swiss town of Vevey in 1860, he probably had no idea that his company would grow and become the behemoth that it is today. He was however out to create something great. Of his cereal he said, “My infant cereal has a tremendous future because there is no food to compare with it.” His biographer Albert Pfiffner described the former pharmacist assistant as an “entrepreneur continually observing consumer and society’s needs to find new opportunities to earn his living.” 160 years later, Nestlé
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MARCH/APRIL 2021 | FOOD BUSINESS AFRICA
has remained true to its founder’s principle and has grown into the world’s biggest food company. Over a billion of its products are consumed every day in almost all corners of the world. The company has a market value of US$336 billion and annual sales of more than US$92 billion at last count. The last decade, however, saw many food companies struggle with growth. Consumer-goods businesses were not growing as fast as shareholders would have desired. At Nestlé, things were not looking good either, as organic sales growth had fallen from an annual 7.5% in 2011 to 2.4% in 2016. The company badly needed a caffeine shot to
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