Dive Brief:
- Nestle CEO Paul Bulcke made several revelations about the company in an interview with newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung concerning growth targets, a company move, and an open seat for chairman of the board.
- Despite a challenging economic environment, Bulcke said the company would not revise its growth targets, currently set at a 5% to 6% target range.
- Bulcke said that referendum votes in 2014 and 2013 aimed at setting immigration quotas and limiting executive pay could threaten the company's business environment in Switzerland. "Should it become difficult to bring specialists into the country, then we will have to go somewhere, where this flexibility still exists," Bulcke told Neue Zuercher Zeitung.
Dive Insight:
Bulcke said he would not automatically assume the role of chairman of Nestle's board when his predecessor as CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe retires in 2017.
"It's an advantage for someone who knows the company to take over leadership. But that's not enough," Bulcke told Neue Zuercher Zeitung. "We're open and have repeatedly recruited from outside the company in recent times."
In October, Nestle reported a 2.1% drop in revenue in the nine months leading to and including September.
"If we were to revise the goal downward, then (our performance) would certainly also move down ... The important thing is that we grow faster than the others and outperform them through our strong innovation. That's what we strive for," Bulcke said in the interview.