Steve Presley (left) is slated to take the CEO reins from Paul Grimwood at Nestlé USA.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Steve Presley has been named to succeed Paul Grimwood as market head and chief executive officer of Nestlé USA.

Plans call for Presley, now chief finance and strategic transformation officer, to take the helm as Nestlé USA CEO on April 1. Grimwood will transition from his current role and will continue to serve the business as nonexecutive chairman until May 2019.

Joining Nestlé more than 20 years ago, Presley started his career at the company as a controller for the beverage factory in Suffolk, Virginia. He held various roles within the beverage division, including vice president of finance and VP/general manager of premium ready-to-drink beverages. In 2009, he was appointed president of Nestlé Business Services, and then in 2013 he was named chief financial officer for Nestlé USA. His role was expanded in 2016 to include leading Nestlé USA’s strategic transformation, where he is currently responsible for developing, implementing and leading new and innovative strategies that ensure the long-term growth of the company.

Nestle USA said Presley’s replacement as CFO will be announced at a later date.

“Steve has played a critical role in driving the strategic transformation of Nestlé USA alongside Paul,” stated Laurent Freixe, executive vice president and head of Zone Americas at Nestlé. “His powerful combination of deep commercial and financial expertise provides continuity and makes him ideally suited to lead Nestlé USA in the changing consumer marketplace. Steve’s experience will prove invaluable in continuing to pursue new internal and external models to increase the speed of innovation, capitalize on M&A to seed our innovation machine, and create new income streams and capabilities.”

Grimwood has served as chairman and CEO of Nestlé USA since 2012. The company noted that during his tenure he led a strategic transformation of the business, which has included evolving its products to respond to changing consumer tastes and driving organizational change. He joined Nestlé in 2001 as country business manager for Nestlé Purina PetCare UK & Ireland. In 2005, he served as head of operations for Zone Europe and named market head for the United Kingdom and Ireland in January 2009.

As nonexecutive chairman, Grimwood will continue to provide strategic counsel, with a particular focus on stakeholder relations, Nestlé said. He also will play a key role in driving Nestlé’s “Creating Shared Value” agenda as well as engaging with government officials, industry leaders and NGOs.

“Paul’s dedication to Nestlé and his exceptional leadership helped propel Nestlé USA to record service levels, working capital and profitability in 2017,” Freixe commented. “He achieved this success while simultaneously orchestrating Nestle USA’s strategic transformation, which included the sale of our confections business, moving our headquarters across the country, and leading acquisitions and investments in companies like Freshly, Sweet Earth and Chameleon Cold-Brew.”

With 2017 sales of $9.7 billion, Nestlé USA is part of Nestlé S.A. in Vevey, Switzerland, the world’s largest food company. The brand roster of Nestlé USA, the largest of eight U.S. operating companies in Nestlé Group, includes such names as Lean Cuisine, Nestlé Toll House, DiGiorno, Stouffer’s and Nescafé across baking and global foods, beverage and ice cream divisions.