Steve Presley Replaces Paul Grimwood as CEO of Nestlé USA

Nestlé announced that Steve Presley (pictured: right), currently chief Finance and Strategic Transformation Officer for Nestlé USA, will succeed Paul Grimwood (pictured: left) as market head and CEO of Nestlé USA, effective April 1, 2018.

Grimwood will transition from his current role and will continue to serve the business as Non-Executive Chairman of Nestlé USA until May 2019.

With USD9.7bn in 2017 sales, Nestlé USA is the largest of eight U.S. operating companies as part of Nestlé Group. It includes brands such as Lean Cuisine, Nestlé Toll House, DiGiorno pizza, Stouffer’s and Nescafé across baking and global foods, beverage, foods, and ice cream divisions.

Presley began his comprehensive career with Nestlé more than 20 years ago as a controller for the beverage factory in Suffolk, Virginia. 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.”

“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.”

Grimwood has served as Chairman and CEO of Nestlé USA since 2012, where he led a strategic transformation of the business, which included evolving its products to respond to changing consumer tastes and driving organizational change.