Nestlé names marketing chief and ups spend

UPDATE: Nestlé maker of the Milky Bar, Smarties and the Kit-Kat brands, has named its new sales and marketing chief as it announces consumer-facing marketing increased 7.5% last year.

UPDATE: Nestlé, maker of the Milky Bar, Smarties and the Kit-Kat brands, has named its new sales and marketing chief as it announces consumer-facing marketing increased 7.5% last year.

The Swiss-based confectionary giant has appointed Petraea Heynike as executive vice president in charge of strategic business units, marketing and sales, and Nespresso.

Heynike, currently head of the chocolate, confectionery and biscuits strategic business unit, will take up her new role on March 1 and will become a member of the company’s executive board. She will report to chief executive Paul Bulcke.

Heynike replaces Lars Oloffson who left last year to become chief executive of French retailer Carrefour.

Nestlé group sales increased 8.3% to 109.9bn Swiss Francs (£65.6) last year which helped push net profit up 69.4% to 18bn Swiss Francs (£10.8bn).

Food and beverages sales in Europe increased 5.6 per cent over 2007 to 28.1bn Swiss Francs.

Bulcke says the company is committed to achieving organic growth of 5% this year and that the group will remain “one the industry’s fastest growing”.