[SEOUL G20 BUSINESS SUMMIT/CEO STORY]Nestl´e Boss Focuses on Long and Short Terms

Nestl´e S.A. Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, 65, is a veteran of the food business who has been with the company since 1968 when he joined Findus, a Nestl´e subsidiary in Austria. He became senior vice president of Nestl´e’s culinary products division in 1987 after working at various sales and marketing positions in Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela.

He was named executive vice president of Nestl´e in 1992 and oversaw the company’s marketing, communications and public relations work for five years after which he became chief executive in 1997. He became chairman of the board in 2005. Since 2008, he has handed over management duties to current Chief Executive Paul Bulcke and has been working solely as chairman of the board.

Brabeck-Letmathe first landed a job at Findus, an ice cream company, after graduating from university. His work was to sell and deliver ice cream to coffee shops and supermarkets in the Alps region, driving freezer trucks. He had no idea that Findus was an affiliate of Nestl´e.

He was posted to Nestl´e’s Chile office in 1970 where he encountered movements by Chile’s socialist government to nationalize private companies. He stopped the nationalization of Nestl´e after repeated negotiations with the Chilean government.

After a brief stint in Switzerland, he was named managing director of Nestl´e’s Ecuador office in 1981, where he con-tinued his ties with South America. He became head of Nestl´e’s Venezuela office in 1983.

As chief executive of Nestl´e, he maximized profits by closing down unprofitable affiliates and concen-trating on businesses with the biggest growth potential.

His management style is to focus on balancing short-term results with long-term growth.

He emphasizes internal communications and is known as a “field manager” who travels constantly to meet thousands of employees each year.

By Joo Sung-won
swon@donga.com