Nestle Chairman Brabeck-Letmathe to Speak at Foreign Policy Association

02 Oct 2008

Appointed Nestle's CEO in 1997, Brabeck-Letmathe assumed the office of Vice Chairman of the Board in 2001. He was named Chairman in April 2005 and continued to serve as CEO, retiring from the position in April 2008.

02/10/08 In an event sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association on Wednesday, October 1st, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman of Nestle, S.A. addressed the global food crisis and shared his views on "what needs to be done to improve our collective ability to feed the world." The global food shortage has escalated into a crisis. Food riots have erupted around the world, with the price of basic commodities doubling in the past few years. The dramatic rise in costs has been most devastating to the poorest countries.

Population growth and natural disasters such as floods and droughts have contributed to the crisis. However, Brabeck-Letmathe noted that "the largest single cause for our current predicament is a combination of poor judgment and irresponsible decisions made by policy makers around the world."

Brabeck-Letmathe focused on four major issues -- protectionism, lower agricultural productivity, the expanding use of biofuels, and the overexploitation of water. He offered some solutions to alleviate the crisis and he challenged the governments of the world to come up with better solutions. He discussed what Nestle, as the world's leading nutrition, health and wellness company, is doing to resolve the problem.

In his remarks at the FPA event, Brabeck-Letmathe also brought up the link between biofuels and the critically important overconsumption of water. According to him, it takes "up to 9,000 litres of water to grow enough soy for one litre of biodiesel, and up to 4,000 litres to grow enough corn for one litre of bioethanol." This overuse, he explained, is far costlier and poses greater risk to more people than the current oil crisis. While fully supportive of reducing consumption of fossil fuels, Brabeck-Letmathe worries that the global food crisis will be ignored.

"I am convinced that if we continue on this path, we will run out of water long before we run out of fuel," Brabeck-Letmathe said. "This water problem is solvable ... but all our efforts and those of other companies and consumers will be in vain, if governments throughout the world continue with their short-sighted policies instead of working toward solutions. It requires better policies and more reasonable pricing."

An economics graduate of the University of World Trade in Vienna, Brabeck-Letmathe joined Nestle in 1968. He spent a significant part of his career in the company's Latin America locations, including Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela. In 1987 he was transferred to Nestle's international headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland as Senior Vice President in charge of the Culinary Products Division, with a worldwide responsibility for that sector. He was appointed Executive Vice President in 1992 and became CEO in 1997.

Brabeck-Letmathe serves as a member of the Boards of Directors of Credit Suisse Group, Roche Holding, S.A., and as Vice Chairman of L'Oreal. He is a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT) and serves as a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum.