Nestlé rejects CEO Laurent Freixe after surveying on the “romantic relationship”

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Nestlé rejected CEO Laurent Freixe with immediate effect after an investigation into an “unknown romantic relationship”, and appointed the chief of Nespresso Philipp Navratil by replacing.

The Swiss consumer goods company said that the departure of Freixe, which was promoted to director general last August after almost 40 years with Nestlé, came after a survey in a relationship with a direct subordinate which violated its commercial code of conduct.

“It was a necessary decision.

The SFR191BN group behind brands such as Kit Kat and Nescafé first launched an investigation into Freixe’s personal relationship with a colleague at the end of spring after a certain number of reports were made via the Nestlé internal complaint system called “Speak Up”.

Staff have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and favoritism, according to people familiar with the issue.

Last month, Nestlé told Financial Times that, following the internal investigation, he found that allegations were “unfounded”.

However, after the internal complaints persisted, the Board of Directors of Nestlé then decided to launch another survey with the help of an external lawyer. This revealed that the allegations was supported, said a person informed of the situation.

The departure of Freixe, after only a year in work, adds more upheavals in what has already been a difficult year for Nestlé, because it claims the slowdown in sales in its main companies.

The French authorities made a descent into the offices of Nestlé in July as part of an investigation into the alleged use of the unauthorized filtration methods company in its bottled mineral water. The company also had to make a reminder of frozen meals in the United States this year for contamination problems.

Since the replacement of Mark Schneider as managing director of the group, which has had a sprawling portfolio of more than 2,000 brands covering coffee and confectionery in Petcare, Freixe tried to refocus Nestlé on its main companies and restore a corporate culture which, according to him, had been lost.

The Frenchman, who had previously worked for Nestlé in roles in Hungary, Spain and Latin America, told the FT in May that the strategy of his predecessor had “weakened the fabric” of the company.

Nestlé’s actions have dropped more than 40% since he reached an SFR127 summit in 2022. Bulcke announced his intention to resign in June, and former Inditex Pablo Isla chief was proposed as his replacement.

Navratil, the replacement of Freixe, started with Nestlé as an internal verifier in 2001 and has since managed companies in Latin America and the coffee wallet, more recently in Nespresso. He joined the board of directors this year.

Jean-Philippe Bertschy, analyst for Swiss Bank vontobel, said that the change in leadership comes at a “sensitive stadium” for Nestlé.

“Nestlé is already under the spotlight … The appointment of Philipp Navratil, a tested leader with an excellent assessment, is encouraging … As the nerves of investors have been tested for several months,” he added.

Freixe did not immediately respond to a request for comments.