Sept. 1 (UPI) — Nestle, the world’s largest food and beverage company, on Monday fired CEO Laurent Freixe after disclosing a romantic relationship with a subordinate one year after he took over the Swiss company.

The public company, based in Vevey, announced Philipp Navratil, who headed the Nespresso coffee unit, as the immediate successor of Freize, 63.

The employee was not on the executive board, the BBC reported.

“The departure of Laurent Freixe follows an investigation into an undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate which breached Nestle’s Code of Business Conduct,” the company said in a news release. “In line with best practice corporate governance, the Board ordered an investigation overseen by Chairman Paul Bulcke and Lead Independent Director, Pablo Isla, with the support of independent outside counsel.”

Bulcke, who announced in June that he was stepping down next year, said: “This was a necessary decision. Nestle’s values and governance are strong foundations of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service at Nestle.

“We are not changing course on strategy and we will not lose pace on performance.”

Nestle ousted his predecessor, Mark Schneider, last September.

Freixe joined the company in France in 1986 in marketing and sales. In 2007, he took over as head of operations in Europe.

Navratil, born in 1976, began his career with Nestle in 2001 as an internal auditor. He held various commercial roles in Central America, including leadership of the coffee and beverage business in Mexico.

He was named the leader of Nespresso in July 2024, and became a member of the company’s executive board on Jan. 1.

“Philipp is recognized for his impressive track record of achieving results in challenging environments,” Nulcke said. “Renowned for his dynamic presence, he inspires teams and leads with a collaborative, inclusive management style. The Board is confident that he will drive our growth plans forward and accelerate efficiency efforts.”

Nestle’s largest operation is in the United States with 36,000 employees. Nestle USA was named in 2024 as No. 30 of top workplaces by The Washington Post.

Worldwide there are 275,000 workers.

Nestle was founded in 1866 as the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co by Henri Nestle.

The company’s annual revenue in 2024 was 91.72 billion, a decrease of 1.75% in one year. The company’s net profit was 10.88 billion, a decrease of 2.9%.

Pepsi is the second-largest company in the world.

Nestle owns thousands of brands, including food and beverage products, pet care and nutrition. Some of them were acquired from other companies.

“Nestle’s makes the very best chocolate” was a TV advertising jingle for 10 years starting in 1955.

Beverages include Nescafe, Nespresso, Coffee-Mate, Milo, Perrier and S. Pellegrino.

Pet care products are Purina, Friskies, Fancy Feast and Tidy Cats.

Chocolate and confectionery are Kit Kat, Milky Bar, Smarties, Aero and Nestle Toll House.

Culinary, chilled and frozen food are DiGiorno, Stouffers and Hot Pockets, Lean Cuisine, Maggi, Thomy and Sweet Earth.

Dairy and ice creams are Carnation, Nido, Haagen-Daz, Dreyer’s/Edy’s.

Nutrition products are Gerber, Cerelac, Boost, Vital Proteins and Narue’s Bounty.