Nestle Focuses on Health, But Won’t Kick KitKat to the Curb

The outgoing chairman said that the company will become a global leader in health, but won’t neglect its core sweets.

November 09, 2016

PARIS – Outgoing Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe has spent much of his 48 years with the company overseeing a shift in focus to healthfulness, CNBC reports. Brabeck-Letmathe sees the change toward a greater emphasis on nutrition as a major legacy of his leadership of the global food and beverage company.

He predicted that the world’s biggest food and beverage company would also be the leader in fitness and health. However, that shift doesn’t mean the company would be jettisoning some of its iconic brands, such as KitKat, Smarties or Nesquik.

“The KitKat is a perfect example. There is nothing wrong with a nice KitKat,” Brabeck-Letmathe said. “Now should we have products with 60% sugar and palm oil? No, we should get rid of it. Those products have nothing to do with a nutrition and wellness company, and we’re eliminating those products one after another. Our priority is to adapt them, reformulate them by taking out sugar, salt and sodium, make them nutritionally good. If we can’t do that, we should get rid of them. But KitKat will stay with us for many, many years.”

Brabeck-Letmathe’s biggest personal regret revealed he’s not totally against indulgences. “When I started with Nestle I was an ice cream salesman. We weren’t able on our own to make ice cream a more successful segment. This is one of my emotional regrets,” he said.

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