Food and beverage giant Nestlé has promoted Manuela Bernasconi to group general counsel, succeeding Leanne Geale, who will step down at the end of the year.
Bernasconi, who joined the company in 2007, is currently GC for its Americas business. She will take up her new role as group GC on 1 January and serve as a member of the group’s executive board.
Vevey, Switzerland-based Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage processing company, with well-known brands such as Shredded Wheat cereal, KitKat chocolate, Nescafé coffee and Häagen-Dazs ice cream.
Philipp Navratil, Nestlé’s CEO, said: “With nearly 20 years of experience at Nestlé, Manuela combines deep legal expertise with a strong understanding of our company. She is a trusted adviser with a proven ability to navigate complex legal, regulatory and compliance matters. Her leadership and strategic perspective make her ideally placed to lead our legal and compliance function into its next chapter.”
Bernasconi originally joined as counsel in its corporate and group compliance function, before becoming legal counsel in its European business and then senior legal counsel for Nestlé Suisse. In 2017 she joined Nestlé’s Nespresso unit, becoming its GC in 2020. She then moved back to Nestlé to become GC for Latin America, before taking on her current role at the start of last year.
Geale, meanwhile, is set to retire after seven years as Nestlé’s group GC. Prior to joining the company, she spent 16 years at Royal Dutch Shell, latterly as chief ethics and compliance officer. She also previously worked at Royal Bank of Canada and Rio Algom, both as senior counsel.
She started her in-house career at Alcan Aluminium as counsel in 1991.
Navratil added: “During her tenure, Leanne further strengthened and professionalised Nestlé’s legal and compliance function, including our approach to human rights. On behalf of her colleagues across Nestlé, I thank her warmly for her leadership and many contributions to the company. We wish her every success and happiness for the future.”
In other recent food and beverage moves, in August US pizza delivery business Papa Johns International reappointed Caroline Miller Oyler as chief legal officer, replacing GC John Matter.
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