In 1979, aged 25, he started working for the Nestlé group and worked in different countries, including Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Portugal, Czech Republic and Germany. Before his appointment as CEO of Nestlé, he was the executive vice president of its Americas divisions.
Bulcke has described Nestlé under his tenure as 'une force tranquille' (English: 'calm strength'). He is known for having a reserved, quiet personal manner.[1]
"If something isn't given a value, people tend to waste it. Water is our most useful resource, but those using it often don’t even cover the costs of its infrastructure. Fresh water is being massively overused at nature's expense, but it seems only a global crisis will make us realise the importance of the issue. What is environmentally unsustainable today will become socially unsustainable in the future."[3]
Awards and honours
On 25 May 2012, he received the VMA Award from the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School for his "lifelong career, which has been distinguished by sustained integrity, exceptional management capacity and inspiring leadership".[4]
Personal life
He is married, has three children, and speaks six languages: Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and English.[5] He likes to go sailing as a hobby.[6]
1 Currently manufactured by General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Produced by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand elsewhere. 2 Brand owned by General Mills; U.S. and Canadian production rights controlled by Nestlé under license. 3 U.S. production rights owned by The Hershey Company. 4 U.S. rights and production owned by the Smarties Candy Company with a different product. 5 U.S. rights and specific trade dress owned by Nestlé; rights elsewhere owned by Associated British Foods. 6 Produced by Cereal Partners, branded as Nestlé. 7 Produced by Cereal Partners and branded as Nestlé in the U.K. and Ireland. Produced by Post Foods elsewhere. 8 Philippine production rights owned by Alaska Milk Corporation. 9 Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai production rights owned by Fraser and Neave. 10 Used only in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia. 11 Used only in the Philippines. 12 U.S. production rights owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. 13NA rights and specific trade dress to all packaged coffee and other products under the Starbucks brand owned by Nestlé since 2019. 14 Brand owned by Mars, sold by Nestlé in Canada. 15 Produced by Froneri in the U.S. since 2020.
