Nutrition Company Nestlé has today announced the appointment of Mr Ian Donald as the Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé Equatorial African Region, EAR.
Mr Donald, who is currently the Managing Director of Nestlé in Pakistan, will take over from Mr. Pierre Trouilhat on 15th June this year.
Trouilhat has spearheaded Nestlé EAR since 2008 by setting up the company in the region onto a business growth path.
Making the announcement, Nestlé Senior Vice President in charge of Africa Mr Roger Stettler thanked Mr Pierre for the contribution he has made in the Equitorial Africa wishing him well in his new appointment.
He said: “We are thankful to Pierre for his contribution over the last four years to set up this very significant region for Nestlé and I am sure Ian will continue the good work. I wish Pierre all the very best in his new role.”
Stettler said that the region will benefit from Ian Donald’s experience in managing emerging markets. He will also bring his dairy expertise to the region, especially Kenya, where Nestlé is involved in creating dairy hubs to enhance the livelihoods of local farmers.
“Ian Donald can bring key insights to this market, and being from the African continent makes him the perfect CEO for the job,” added Stettler.
Pierre Trouilhat, who nurtured the Nestlé Equatorial African Region since its establishment in September 2008, to oversee 16 countries, is credited for watching over the company grow massively.
Today, Nestlé EAR is in charge of 21 countries, with 9 operating companies, 5 representative offices and 10 distribution centers. Consequently, the number of employees has grown from 450 to over 1000 in the last four years.The Nestlé Product portfolio has also been revamped to meet the needs of the emerging market.
In line with the company’s “Creating Shared Value” philosophy, Nestlé EAR has been increasing farmers’ capacity building activities targeting the dairy and coffee sectors in the region through the East Africa Dairy Development project and The Nescafé Plan respectively.
“I am extremely happy to have served in this region. I am particularly pleased about the impact of Nestlé’s contribution in the economic landscape of the region, and the fact that we are now playing a more predominant role in the community.” said Mr Trouilhat.
Ian Donald has worked for Nestlé for the last 40 years, in his home country South Africa and also in Asian countries such as Philippines, Malaysia and Pakistan.
