Nestle’s new CEO lowered sales growth expectations for 2024 and announced a leadership reshuffle on Thursday in what one analyst described as a “painful reset” for the global food giant.

Chief executive Laurent Freixe took over from Mark Schneider on September 1 in a surprise change at the top of the Swiss group, whose brands include everything from Nespresso coffee capsules to Purina dog food and Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Freixe, a Frenchman who headed Nestle’s Latin America unit, was appointed to turn things around following slumping sales and a series of product scandals.

The company reported Today sales totalling 67.1 billion Swiss francs ($77.4 billion) for the first nine months of the year, a 2.4 per cent drop from the same period last year. Consumer demand has weakened in recent months, and we expect the demand environment to remain soft,” Freixe said in a statement today.

Still speaking Nestle now expects organic sales growth, excluding the impact of currency fluctuations and acquisitions, of two per cent this year. The group had already cut its annual sales outlook from four per cent to three per cent in July, as consumers moved towards cheaper alternatives following years of high inflation.

The global packaged-food giant and its rivals had logged high sales growth in the past three years as they raised prices to make up for higher costs due to soaring inflation.

Nestle also announced several changes in its leadership structure, including merging its Latin America and North America divisions into a single Americas unit.

Its Greater China region will become part of its Asia, Oceania and Africa zone, among other changes that include a reshuffling of the executive board.

“This is crucial, as we sharpen our focus on consumers and customers and restore investment in our brands and innovation to expand market share and accelerate our performance,” he added.

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