Nestlé Europe head Marco Settembri retires, new CEO announced

Nestlé on Thursday said its executive vice president and chief executive, Zone Europe Marco Settembri is retiring after a career of over 36 years at the Swiss food giant.

The company has announced Guillaume Le Cunff, currently serving as chief executive of Nespresso, as Settembri’s successor.

Since joining Nestlé Italy in 1987, Settembri has held multiple management positions across various businesses. Under his leadership, Purina PetCare emerged as one of Nestlé's largest and most profitable businesses in Europe.

In 2017, he was appointed head of Zone EMENA (Europe, Middle East and North Africa). Following the realignment of Nestlé’s geographical focus and the creation of new zones in 2022, Marco Settembri became head of Zone Europe.

Guillaume Le Cunff

Le Cunff joined Nestlé in 1998, initially leading internal audit and finance functions, before moving to Nespresso in 2007. He was appointed president of Nespresso USA in 2015. While there, he led the successful launch of Vertuo and helped establish Nespresso as the go-to brand for coffee connoisseurs in the US.

In 2020, Le Cunff became global chief executive of Nespresso, where he drove geographic expansion and organic growth. He introduced pioneering initiatives, such as Reviving Origins, a programme aimed at supporting coffee regions that have endured conflicts or natural disasters, and he was instrumental in the development of home-compostable capsules.

“On behalf of our board of directors and our executive board, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Marco for his many years of outstanding service to Nestlé. We wish him great success and fulfillment in this new phase of his life,” Mark Schneider, Nestlé chief executive, commented.

“At the same time, we are delighted to announce that Guillaume is taking over as the new CEO of Zone Europe. Guillaume is an inspiring and seasoned business leader with extensive experience in brand building, innovation, e-commerce and sustainability. He is the ideal leader to take Zone Europe to the next level. We wish Guillaume every success in his new role."

Settembri will step down from the group executive board on 30 June 30. Le Cunff, will become CEO Zone Europe and a member of the group executive board, effective 1 July.