Why Nestlé CEO Philipp Navratil is Focused on Change

Philipp Navratil drinks eight cups of coffee a day. Mostly black, sometimes with a KitKat.

Considering the work ahead of Nestlé’s new CEO – who was appointed in late September 2025 with a mandate to accelerate a major turnaround following the abrupt dismissal of his predecessor, Laurent Freixe – it’s not an unreasonable amount.

Philipp, who has spent more than 20 years at the world’s largest food and beverage company, touched on his daily drinking habits in a sweeping recent interview with the New York Times. 

In it he discussed taking on the CEO role, navigating extensive employee layoffs, and how younger team members keep him on his toes. 

When Nestlé removed Laurent following an internal investigation into his “undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate”, Phillip was passed the top seat. 

“Nestlé is not used to such turbulent times,” he told the New York Times, touching both on the company’s leadership change and its declining financial performance over recent years. 

“We’re a company that should be steady and just deliver what it promises,” he said. “The most important thing is that when the CEO changes, it doesn’t have to disrupt the whole company.

“When I got into my job, I thought, ‘Let’s take what works, make sure we do more of that, and make sure we communicate really transparently what happened and what we will do’.”

Leadership and a path forward

Chairman of Nestlé's Board of Directors Paul Bulcke said at the time of Phillip’s appointment: “Philipp is recognised for his impressive track record of achieving results in challenging environments. 

“Renowned for his dynamic presence, he inspires teams and leads with a collaborative, inclusive management style.”

Phillip has faced difficult decisions early in his tenure as he and the company work on a turnaround. 

After years of slow sales, the company’s stock price sits at close to half of its 2022 peak and, in February 2025, the company reported its weakest annual organic sales growth in more than 25 years. 

In October, Phillip said the company needed to keep pace with a changing world and focus on performance that doesn’t accept losing market share to rivals. 

Changes included cutting 16,000 jobs over the next two years, including 12,000 white-collared professionals and 4,000 other employees. 

“We created an organisation that was just too big, with too many layers,” Phillip told the NYT, discussing the cuts. “Today when you look at AI, there is a way of working that can be much more clear, fast and agile.

“This way of working will obviously require less people, but it will also speed up the company. It will be a growth story about how we use A.I. to grow faster, to make decisions better, to plan throughout the supply chain to have less stock and less waste.”

Growth, products and next-gen workers

Nestlé operates a vast portfolio, delivering products in sectors including beverages, pet care, nutrition and health science, dairy, confectionary and bottled water. 

Operating such a broad portfolio presents challenges to businesses including higher complexity and resource challenges. 

Phillip told the New York Times: “We’re not as complicated as it seems. It’s coffee, pet food, nutrition, and then what we call food and snacking. Size matters because we can really have good discussions with our big customers – take Walmart or Amazon – about different product lines. 

“It also gives you a hedge if anything happens to one of the businesses. Don’t confuse size with bureaucracy and complexity. What I’m more emotional about when you sell businesses is taking care of the people.”

Considering broader influences impacting Nestlé and other companies in the industry, Philipp revealed his approach during recent tariff disruption as a result of measures by US President Donald Trump is to “take a step back from some of the noise and just look at it in a very long-term way”.

He said: “We tend to stay put when there is a crisis. We don’t just pull out. We adapt the business.”

He also explained how Nestlé is investing in measures to mitigate the impact of climate change. 

With up to 50% of coffee-growing regions in danger, Philipp said: What we do is drive regenerative agriculture, not because it is fancy or it is philanthropy. It is really strategic to the future of Nestlé.”

Nestlé will announce its full-year results and update on strategy on 19 February 2026.