VEVEY, SWITZERLAND — Luis Cantarell has been named head of Nestle Nutrition. The move follows the announcement that Kurt Schmidt, deputy executive vice-president in charge of Nestle Nutrition, has decided to leave the company for personal reasons at the beginning of December.

“We respect Kurt Schmidt’s decision, thank him for his valuable contribution during his time at Nestle and wish him all the best for the future,” said Paul Bulcke, chief executive officer. “Luis Cantarell plays an important role in shaping Nestle’s nutrition, health and wellness vision, and his strong and proven leadership will be of great value to our nutrition business.”

Mr. Cantarell will take on the new role in addition to his current role as president and chief executive officer of Nestle Health Science. He was also in charge of Nestle’s Nutrition Strategic Business Division from 2001 to 2005. The company said the decision to bring Nestle Nutrition and Nestle Health Science under the same leadership goes along with the company’s focus on strengthening and developing the company’s presence in global nutrition.

The nutrition business sells Gerber baby food and PowerBar supplements as well as Jenny Craig products.

The company is also in the middle of completing an acquisition of Pfizer Inc.’s infant nutrition business, which will give Nestle additional share in the Chinese infant nutrition market.