Peter Brabeck-Letmathe
Encyclopedia
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe is an Austrian businessman. He is the Chairman and former CEO of the Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
Group.
Early life
Brabeck-Letmathe was born in a family with its origins in Iserlohn-LetmatheIserlohn
Iserlohn is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region.-Geography:...
in North West Germany.
After completing his studies in Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at the University of World Trade (today Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration) in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, he joined Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
in 1968 in Austria as a sales
Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
man, later becoming a specialist for new products.
Early career at Nestle
His career within the Group included a span of almost 10 years in ChileChile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
(1970–1980), first as national Sales Manager and later as Director of Marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
. In 1981, he was appointed Managing Director of Nestlé Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
and in 1983, President and Managing Director of Nestlé Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. In October 1987, he was transferred to Nestlé's international headquarters in Vevey
Vevey
Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District...
. As Senior Vice President in charge of the Culinary Products Division, he had worldwide responsibility for that business area. On 1 January 1992, Mr. Brabeck-Letmathe was appointed Executive Vice President of Nestlé S.A., the world's leading food company, with global responsibility for the Strategic Business Group encompassing Food, Buitoni pasta, Chocolate and Confectionery, Ice Cream, Petfood, as well as Industrial Products (Aromas). At the same time, he had worldwide responsibility for Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs. In particular, during his time as Executive Vice President, he conceived and implemented the unique branding
Brand management
Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand.The discipline of brand management was started at Procter & Gamble as a result of a famous memo by Neil H...
policy of Nestlé, characterized by a strict hierarchy of strategic brands on the global, regional and local level.
CEO of Nestle
On 5 June 1997, at the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Nestlé S.A., Mr. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was elected Member of the Board of Directors. On the same day, the Board appointed him Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé S.A. On April 6, 2001, the Board of Directors of Nestlé S.A. elected him as Vice-Chairman of the Board, and, in April 2005, Chairman of the Board.In 2008, Brabeck stepped down as CEO.
Humanitarianism
Brabeck-Letmathe (credited as Peter Brabeck) appeared in the 2005 documentary We Feed The World in an interview at the end of the film. He said that the idea of water as a basic human right was "extreme" and that he believed water should have value like any foodstuff. He also affirmed that Nestlé was part of the solution to world poverty by employing so many people.During his tenure as CEO he garnered a "Black Planet Award" in 2007, along with Liliane Bettencourt
Liliane Bettencourt
Liliane Bettencourt is a French heiress, socialite, businesswoman and philanthropist. She is one of the principal shareholders of L'Oréal and, with a fortune estimated at US$23.5 billion, is one of the wealthiest people in the world.-Biography:...
, from the Foundation for Ethics and Economics in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. It is bestowed on individuals dedicated to the destruction of the planet, whereas Brabeck and Bettencourt through Nestle were accused of proliferating contaminated baby food, monopolising water resources, and tolerating child labor.
Professional
Mr. Brabeck-Letmathe is on the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse Group, L'OréalL'Oréal
The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics...
, and ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
. He is also a member of ERT (European Round Table of Industrialists
European Round Table of Industrialists
The European Round Table of Industrialists was born out of a growing preoccupation with thestate of the European economy in the early 1980s. Frequently diagnosed as “eurosclerosis”, the...
) and a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
. His earnings in 2006 were approximately 14 million Swiss francs (8.4 million Euro).