The departure of Paul Bulcke (Nestlé's chairman) comes amid growing discontent amongst the food giant's shareholders. The stock has been falling for three years (since its peak in April 2022), while rivals Unilever and Danone have been performing better.
The owner of the Purina, KitKat, and San Pellegrino brands has not managed to get back on track since the pandemic. Sales volumes have fallen repeatedly, while price increases intended to offset higher raw material costs have failed to resolve the difficulties. The scandal surrounding the use of banned treatments to purify bottled water in France has added to the pressure, while in the US, the group has had to deal with logistics problems.
Between 2022 and 2024, the share price fell by 42%. At the same time, Unilever gained 15% and Danone rose 19%. Meanwhile, debt increased. Net debt reached 2.9x EBITDA, compared with 2.5 a year earlier and under 2x in 2021. This is because investors want returns to offset the fall in the share price. Dividends have been rising steadily year on year, but this is now reaching the point where it is damaging the group's financial structure.
Its management is considered far too closed, aging, and slow to react in a market where consumer trends are changing. CEO Mark Schneider was replaced in the summer of 2024, but since then, things have not really changed despite the arrival of veteran Laurent Freixe, who had raised new hopes. A few days ago, the group announced the departure of its chairman, Paul Bulcke, in April 2026. Bulcke will thus end a career spanning nearly fifty years at Nestlé. He first joined the company as a marketing intern.
The arrival of Pablo Isla to replace him as president is viewed favorably. The businessman was CEO of Inditex (parent company of Zara), one of the best-managed groups in the textile sector. He inspires confidence. One of his main tasks will be to define the profile of the future CEO. The current CEO, Laurent Freixe, is already 63 years old. He will also have to decide on two strategic issues: the future of frozen foods and the €40bn stake in L'Oréal.
For the time being, Nestlé is not in crisis. But a page must be turned in order to start again on a healthier footing. Management is aware of the problem, and the changes are positive, even if they create some uncertainty in the short term.
Nestlé S.A. is the world's leading agri-food group. Net sales break down by category of products as follows:
- powdered and liquid beverages (26.9%): soluble coffees (Nescafé and Starbucks brands), coffee in capsules (Nespresso), chocolate drinks (Nesquik, Milo, etc.), tea drinks (Nestea), etc.;
- pet food (20.7%): brands such as Purina, Friskies, Felix, etc.;
- pharmaceutical, nutrition and well-being products (16.6%): nutritional supplements (Resource, Boost, Nutren, Optifast, Peptamen brands, etc.), infant and maternal nutrition products (NAN, illuma, Cerelac, Nido, Gerber), ketogenic beverages (BrainXpert), (Nesquick, Fitness, Cheerios, Lion, etc.), etc.;
- ready meals and seasoning products (11.7%): frozen and chilled dishes (Lean Cuisine, Hot Pockets and Stouffer's brands), soups (Maggi), etc.;
- dairy products and ice cream (11.4%): powdered milk, sweetened condensed milk, yoghurt and cream desserts, ice cream (Nido, Nesvita, Carnation, La Laitière, Coffee Mate, Nestlé Ice Cream, Dreyers, Häagen-Dazs, Extrême brands, etc.);
- chocolates, sweets and biscuits (9.2%): Kit Kat, Smarties, Cailler, Terrafertil, etc. brands;
- bottled waters (3.5%): Nestlé Pure Life, Vittel, Perrier, S. Pellegrino, etc. brands.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Switzerland (1.2%), the United Kingdom (4%), France (3.8%), Germany (2.2%), Europe (13.1%), the United States and Canada (35.2%), China (5.9%), Brazil (4.4%), Mexico (4.2%), Chile (1.2%), Latin America (3.8%), Philippines (2.9%), India (2.2%), Australia (1.6%) and Oceania (14.3%).
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