Nestlé CEO sets bold agenda to accelerate growth and transformation

Nestlé is sharpening its focus on growth and operational transformation under the leadership of newly appointed CEO Philipp Navratil, who laid out a decisive strategy during the company’s nine-month sales presentation on October 16.

With organic growth rising to 3.3% year-to-date — up from 2.0% in the same period last year — Navratil emphasised that while progress is evident, the pace must quicken.

“We are moving in the right direction. Now we need to move faster,” Navratil said, outlining four strategic priorities: driving real internal growth (RIG), building a winning portfolio, fostering a performance-driven culture, and accelerating business transformation.

Nestlé’s Q3 results showed signs of momentum, with growth investments doubling performance in priority areas from 7% to 14%, and underperforming business units improving from -2.5% to flat. However, Navratil was candid about the limitations of these gains. “What I’m not happy about is that these priority growth opportunities are only 10% of our sales. And flat growth in our underperformers is nowhere near good enough,” he stated.

To scale impact, Navratil is pushing for bolder investments and structured innovation pipelines anchored in strategic consumer platforms. He cited Nescafé espresso concentrate as a model example, calling cold coffee “an incredible growth opportunity” and emphasising the need to replicate this approach across categories and brands.

“We must go beyond individual innovations and do this in a structured way… and execute flawlessly with high quality marketing through our billionaire, global brands,” he said.

Navratil also signalled a rigorous review of Nestlé’s portfolio, stressing that scale only delivers value when individual businesses are winning.

“If our assessment concludes that one or the other business does not meet the criteria I described, we will act, whether that means fixing, partnering or selling,” he said, confirming ongoing evaluations of the Waters and mainstream VMS segments.

Internally, Nestlé is undergoing a major transformation to streamline operations and reduce complexity. The company plans to cut 12,000 white collar roles and an additional 4,000 positions in manufacturing and supply chain over the next two years. These moves are expected to contribute CHF 1 billion in annual savings, raising the company’s “Fuel for Growth” target to CHF 3 billion by 2027.

“Getting this right is fundamental to creating value in our business,” Navratil said. “We will take hard but necessary decisions… I want to be transparent.”

With a renewed focus on execution, innovation, and accountability, Navratil’s leadership marks a pivotal moment for Nestlé. “I will drive all of this with urgency to accelerate our growth performance and deliver improved shareholder value,” he concluded.