John Harris, executive vice president in charge of Nestlé Waters, will retire at the end of November 2013 after a long and distinguished career of 39 years with Nestlé. The board of directors has appointed Marco Settembri, currently head of Nestlé Purina PetCare Europe, to succeed Harris on the executive board as executive vice president in charge of Nestlé Waters, effective Dec. 1, 2013, according to the press release.
Settembri, an Italian citizen, joined Nestlé Italiana in 1987 and was appointed managing director of Sanpellegrino in 2004. In this capacity, he contributed significantly to the successful consolidation of Nestlé Waters activities in Italy and the development of a strong export stream of iconic Italian brands. In 2006, Settembri was appointed market head in Italy in addition to his responsibility as managing director of Nestlé Waters Italy. In 2007 he was appointed CEO of Nestlé Purina PetCare Europe and, under his leadership, pet care became one of Nestlé’s largest and most profitable businesses in Europe.
Paul Bulcke, Nestlé CEO said in a prepared statement, “Over the last 39 years, John Harris has made a strong contribution to the success of the company. He successfully led the worldwide expansion of our water business and, in particular, our Perrier and S.Pellegrino international brands. John was also instrumental in further developing Nestlé Pure Life as the world’s leading bottled water brand. I am confident that Marco Settembri, with his successful track record as well as his strong leadership and management style, will take Nestlé Waters to new levels of achievement.”
