Nestlé is one of the biggest food and beverage companies in the world, amassing billions of dollars in sales every year. But according to John Carmichael, then-president of Nestlé’s Beverage Division, that’s not the company’s true mission.
“We are in the disruption business,” Carmichael said during a conversation on stage at BevNET Live Summer 2018 in New York City earlier this month.
In his role, Carmichael — who is officially returning to lead Nestle’s food business on July 1 — was charged with both maintaining and growing Nestlé’s existing portfolio brands while keeping an eye on the horizon for brands and trends that will define the future of beverages. Through M&A activity, including investments in Chameleon Cold Brew and Blue Bottle Coffee, and internal brand incubation, Nestlé has used a hybrid model to grow its presence across a range of beverage categories and formats.
Watch the video for the full interview with Carmichael, who discussed Nestle’s evolution as a beverage company, how it’s competing from hard-charging JAB Holdings in on-premise coffee service, why the company looks for “something we can’t do ourselves” when evaluating potential acquisitions, and why taking a patient approach to emerging categories is one of the biggest challenges for a multinational conglomerate like Nestlé.