Cultural Change Needed At Nestlé, Says Chairman

Isla was speaking in his first address to the Swiss food giant's shareholders at the company's general assembly in Lausanne on Thursday.

The goal is to build a“more linear, faster, more competitive and more innovative” company, said the 62-year-old, according to the written text of his speech. To achieve this, the group will focus on the“strongest business areas: brands, innovations and growth pillars”. At the same time, marketing and research will be developed in a targeted manner.

+ Management meltdown at Nestlé

“Our measures are showing the first results: where we have strengthened our focus we have seen growth and gained market share,” claimed the former CEO of Inditex, the Spanish clothing multinational that controls brands such as Zara.

Nestlé also wants to simplify the organisation considerably. Decision-making paths will be shortened and responsibilities more clearly defined to speed up the implementation of decisions. Isla also intends to streamline management. The board of directors will“intensify” its supervision and adapt structures to create more“clarity, transparency and accountability”.

In parallel, the entrepreneur who has been on the board of Nestlé since 2018, is aiming for a cultural change. Employees are to be more involved and empowered:“through data, digital tools, training”. The overall goal of the new chairman is to accelerate the transformation and put Nestlé back on a stable long-term growth path.

Taking office in October 2025 as successor to Paul Bulcke, Isla is the first Nestlé president in decades who has never previously held the role of CEO within the group. During his time at Inditex – from 2005 to 2022, first as operational leader, then as chairman of the board – the company's turnover rose from around €7 billion (CHF6.45 billion) to around €28 billion, while the share price increased eightfold. Isla keeps a low public profile and never granted interviews during his time at Inditex.

Today on the stock exchange, Nestlé's share price is almost perfectly following the trend of the SMI index. Since the beginning of the year, the value has gained 3%, but the performance over 12 months (-10%) and a five-year period (-28%) remains negative.

The financial year 2025 ended with a turnover of CHF89.5 billion ($114 billion) and a net profit of CHF9 billion.

Adapted from Italian by AI/ts

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