Steve Presley, a 20-plus-year Nestle veteran, will be promoted to CEO and market head of Nestlé USA, effective April 1. Currently chief finance and strategic transformation officer for Nestlé USA, he will succeed Paul Grimwood, who will remain non-executive chairman until May 2019.
Presley began his career with Nestlé at the company's beverage factory in Suffolk, Va. He held various roles within the Beverage Division, including vice president of finance and vice president/general manager of Premium Ready-to-Drink Beverages. In 2009, he was named president of Nestlé Business Services, and in 2013 he was appointed CFO of Nestlé USA.
In 2016, Presley’s role was expanded to include leading Nestlé USA’s strategic transformation, making him responsible for developing, implementing and leading new and innovative strategies that ensure the long-term growth of the company. Presley’s replacement as Nestle USA's CFO will be announced at a later date.
“Steve has played a critical role in driving the strategic transformation of Nestlé USA alongside Paul,” said Laurent Freixe, Nestlé executive vice president and head of Zone Americas. “His powerful combination of deep commercial and financial expertise provides continuity and makes him ideally suited to lead Nestlé USA in the changing consumer marketplace. Steve's experience will prove invaluable in continuing to pursue new internal and external models to increase the speed of innovation, capitalize on M&A [mergers & acquisitions] to seed our innovation machine, and create new income streams and capabilities.”
Freixe also thanked Grimwood for his "enormous contributions" to the business, which he led through a critical period in the company’s history. Grimwood has been chairman and CEO of Nestlé USA since 2012.
“Paul’s dedication to Nestlé and his exceptional leadership helped propel Nestlé USA to record service levels, working capital and profitability in 2017,” said Freixe. “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.”
