W orking in Peru in the early 1980s, as the Shining Path guerrillas cast an ever longer shadow over the country, Paul Bulcke got into the habit of forming close-knit, supportive relationships with his Nestlé colleagues. Nearly three decades later, that reputation as a team player in a company wary of prima donnas helped the quietly spoken Belgian succeed Peter Brabeck to become chief executive of the Swiss food company.

For outsiders, the chatty, charming Paul Polman - who subsequently left Nestlé to become chief executive at Unilever, one of its key competitors - had been the obvious choice. Within Nestlé, however, Mr Bulcke's undemonstrative style and solid record over 30 years spoke for themselves.