Nestle is revamping senior leadership and its operating structure, the food giant said on Thursday, as it cut its full-year sales outlook following weaker-than-expected nine-month underlying sales growth.
The packaged food industry has in recent years struggled with soaring costs as everything from sunflower oil and shipping to packaging, grain and energy became more expensive during the pandemic and after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This year, as inflation has eased, many of Nestle s competitors have slowed price increases, hoping to woo back shoppers who turned to cheaper products.
The Swiss group, however, did not ease up as quickly and for years cut too deeply into marketing and innovation budgets, analysts said. CEO Mark Schneider was ousted in August following several quarters of weak sales volumes.
Nestle said it now expects 2024 organic sales growth to be around 2 and an underlying trading operating profit UTOP margin of about 17. In July, it cut its organic sales growth forecast to at least 3 and saw a moderate increase in its UTOP margin from 2023s 17.3.
