ARLINGTON, Va. -- Steve Presley, chief finance and strategic transformation officer for Nestle USA, will succeed Paul Grimwood as market head and CEO of the company on April 1. Grimwood will transition to a nonexecutive chairman role, where he will provide strategic counsel on stakeholder relations, drive Nestle's Creating Shared Value agenda and engage with government officials and industry leaders, according to the company.
Presley has held his current role with Nestle USA since 2016. He joined the company more than 20 years ago as a beverage factory controller and has held various roles within the beverage division, including vice president of finance of premium ready-to-drink beverages. Presley became president of Nestle Business Services in 2009 and then Nestle USA’S CFO in 2013. His replacement has yet to be announced.
Laurent Freixe, Nestle’s executive vice president and head of zone Americas, commended Presley’s role in driving strategic transformation for the company.
"[Presley’s] powerful combination of deep commercial and financial expertise provides continuity and makes him ideally suited to lead Nestle USA in the changing consumer marketplace,” he said. “[His] experience will prove invaluable in continuing to pursue new internal and external models to increase the speed of innovation, capitalize on M&A to seed our innovation machine, and create new income streams and capabilities."
Grimwood, Presley’s predecessor, became Nestle USA’s chairman and CEO in 2012. He first joined Nestle in 2001 as country business manager for Nestle Purina PetCare UK and Ireland and became head of operations for Zone Europe in 2005. Grimwood was appointed market head for the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2009. Freixe praised Grimwood for his leadership in achieving record-breaking numbers for the company in 2017.
"He achieved this success while simultaneously orchestrating Nestle USA's strategic transformation which included the sale of our confections business, moving our headquarters across the country and leading acquisitions and investments in companies like Freshly, Sweet Earth and Chameleon Cold-Brew,” he said.
Nestle in the United States consists of eight main businesses: Nestle USA, Nestle Waters North America, Nestle Nutrition, Nestle Professional, Nespresso, Nestle Health Science, Nestle Skin Health and Nestle Purina PetCare Co. The company employs 50,000 people in more than 120 locations across the United States in 77 factories and 10 research and development centers. Nestle reached $9.7 billion in sales in 2017.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.