Laurent Freixe
Laurent Freixe is currently Chief Executive Officer of Zone Latin America at Nestlé.
Born in Paris, France, Laurent Freixe joined Nestlé France in 1986. After holding different positions with increasing responsibilities in Marketing and Sales, he became the head of the Nutrition Division of Nestlé France in 1999; and was appointed in 2003 Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé Hungary before becoming CEO of the Nestlé Iberian Region in 2007. In November 2008, Laurent Freixe joined the Nestlé Executive Board as Executive Vice President with the responsibility for Zone Europe and has been appointed in 2014 Chief Executive Officer of Zone Americas.
Following Nestlé’s new geographic structure in January 2022, Laurent was appointed Executive vice President and CEO Zone Latin America. With his extensive experience in running two Zones, Europe and Americas, and vast knowledge of Nestlé’s core categories, Laurent is also supporting the CEO on Zone coordination.
Laurent plays a leading role in promoting youth employment and employability across the company. Starting in Europe, Laurent launched the Nestlé youth initiative, Nestlé Needs YOUth, in 2013 and has been successfully driving this global initiative that aims at providing a wide range of employment opportunities for young people under 30 and strengthen their capabilities, professional skills, to raise their employability. Additionally, on May 23, 2018 Laurent has been named International Youth Ambassador by the International Youth Organization for Ibero-America. As a leader at the world’s number one Food and Beverage Company, Laurent Freixe has been fundamental in driving innovation and leading performance across Nestlé’s value chain to help enable healthier lives and contribute to the communities in which the group operates. As such Laurent is highly engaged at driving the sustainability agenda at Nestlé with a focus on the drivers of climate change (carbon footprint, deforestation, waste management).
Under his leadership all Nestlé factories in the Americas have achieved Zero waste to landfill, the use of renewable energy has become mainstream, and two factories have achieved Zero environmental impact (Zero waste to landfill, Zero carbon footprint, Zero water withdrawal).
In addition to his current responsibilities, Laurent is member of the Executive Board of the Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW), member of the Regional Board of Directors of the Consumer Goods Forum in Latin America, member of the Supervisory Board of Froneri SA, Luxembourg and since June 2019 Chairman of the GAN (Global Apprenticeship Network). And as from 2023 Laurent will represent Nestlé at the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development).