Nestle overhauls executive team as sales slump

Zurich: Nestle s new CEO lowered sales growth expectations for 2024 and announced a leadership reshuffle on Thursday in what one analyst described as...

Zurich: Nestle's new CEO lowered sales growth expectations for 2024 and announced a leadership reshuffle on Thursday in what one analyst described as a "painful reset" for the global food giant.

Chief executive Laurent Freixe took over from Mark Schneider on September 1 in a surprise change at the top of the Swiss group, whose brands including everything from Nespresso coffee capsules to Purina dog food and Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

Freixe, a Frenchman who headed Nestle's Latin America unit, was appointed to turn things around following slumping sales and a series of product scandals.

The company reported Thursday sales totalling 67.1 billion Swiss francs ($77.4 billion) for the first nine months of the year, a 2.4 percent drop from the same period last year.

"Consumer demand has weakened in recent months, and we expect the demand environment to remain soft," Freixe said in a statement.