Millions of professionals drink copious amounts of coffee every day coffee—but most people won’t come to the office Nespresso The machine is used more frequently than nestle CEO Philippe Navratil.
The leader of the $259 billion Swiss food giant revealed he drinks seven or eight cups of coffee a day.
“Just black. Sometimes KitKat,” Navratil recently told New York Times. It’s become so routine during his workday that he says espresso is “my snack,” adding that he doesn’t set a cut-off time for caffeine intake.
Although Gen X relies on coffee to fuel massive company turnarounds, they drink about three times the average American two to three cups One Day – Gen Z really kept him on his toes, advising him to keep growing in his role. Otherwise, he might as well just go out.
Navratil admits Nestle’s youngest employee taught him to ‘continuously learn’ New York Times. “When you stop learning, it’s time to move on to another job.”
Navratil joins a group of business leaders who are speaking out, including from Colgate Palmolive and stripethey say Gen Z employees are pushing them to be better. Executives are resisting this concept Young digital natives are unambitious and overly demanding in the workplace. Instead, Gen Z is stepping into their roles with fresh ideas and an open mind, while redefining the future of work.
Nestlé did not immediately respond wealthRequest for comment.
Navratil rises to the top of the food and beverage world
While the thought of drinking eight cups of coffee a day may give you palpitations, caffeine has been at the heart of Navratil’s career climb.
back Stepping into top roles Last September, he completed two decades of his career at the food giant. After earning his MBA in Switzerland in 2001, Navratil joined Nestlé as an auditor. Over the next 23 years, he held various leadership positions in Panama, Honduras and Mexico before assuming the role of Nespresso CEO in 2024. Just one year later, he became leader of the entire Nestlé strategy, which includes iconic brands such as Kit KatNescafe and Gerber.
after many years Sales are dismalCurrently, the company’s stock price is nearly half of its 2022 peak. Just last February, the packaged food company reported its Annual organic sales growth was the weakest in 25 years as consumers cut back on spending. In the first nine months of 2025, Nestlé sales drop Compared with the same period in 2024, this represents an increase of 1.9% to approximately $82.8 billion.
This slow success prompted Navratil to make some tough decisions. Nestlé’s new leader has only been in office for one month announced cuts With 12,000 white-collar jobs and 4,000 manufacturing and supply chain jobs, its global workforce will decrease by 6% over the next two years. The company stated that in a statement Some office jobs will be automated as Nestlé pursues “operational efficiencies”.
“This way of working will obviously require fewer people, but it will also speed up the company’s growth,” Navratil told us. new york times. “This will be a growth story about how we use artificial intelligence to grow faster, make better decisions, and plan the entire supply chain to reduce inventory and waste.”
Gen Z employees are urging bosses to ‘do things differently’
Navratil isn’t the only business leader recognize value young employees.
chief human resources officer $76 billion huge Colgate PalmoliveSally Macy, myth dispelled Gen Z will only bring high standards and chaos to the workplace.
The chief human resources officer praised her young employees as ambitious and tech-savvy, key skills for the talent the legacy company is competing for. To absorb all the new skills, senior leaders across the business are making a concerted effort to listen to junior employees, exchanging ideas across ranks and generations to develop the best possible plan of action.
“(Gen Z) grew up with technology. They grew up in a very different way than other generations in organizations,” Messi recently told wealth. “They bring new ideas, new perspectives, curiosity… They push us to be better, to do things differently – I think that’s great.”
Emily Glassberg Sands, Stripe’s head of data and artificial intelligence, also revealed that she invested in Hire fresh graduates working on $106.7 billion Financial Services Company. The executive singled out Generation Z as being tech-savvy and constantly challenging corporate goals.
“I’m actually hiring more new grads—right now, they’re mostly new grad Ph.D.s—but there are more new grads than ever,” Glassberg-Sands said in Looking to the futurelast year’s podcast. “Because they have cutting-edge skills, they bring fresh ideas, they know how to think, they know how to use the latest tools.”