LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Mark Schneider, Nestle's

recently ousted CEO, steered the world's biggest food maker

through the COVID-19 pandemic, grew margins despite a subsequent

supply chain crunch, and pulled off a historic reorganisation.

So when did he lose the board's faith?

While Nestle declined to comment on the nature of his

departure when announcing it on Thursday, and Schneider did not

respond to a request to do so, three sources told Reuters on

Friday that the executive had been axed.

One source said the decision was reached after Nestle's

board became increasingly concerned about weak sales growth.

They also cited worries about slowing product development, with

new and revamped products taking longer to be devised and rolled

out.

"Two years ago, Mark Schneider could do nothing wrong; now

he seems to get it all wrong," Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne

said, flagging a drop in Nestle's stock, which has slid roughly

30% since its pandemic high in early 2022.

But, "is that a good reason to break up with a CEO that was

only two years ago feted as the best CEO in the sector?"

Monteyne asked.

Schneider, 58, in 2017 became the first company outsider to

lead the maker of KitKat bars and Nescafe coffee in nearly a

century. Its stock peaked during his tenure, tapping a record of

129.5 Swiss francs ($152.73) at the start of 2022.

That year, he led an overhaul of the company, changing its

executive board to align with a new geographic structure.

Where rivals like PepsiCo ( PEP ) and Unilever ( UL ) were

not able to sustain operating margin growth in the seven years

to 2023, Schneider grew Nestle's to 17.3% from 16.5%.

This feat was particularly remarkable, given the hit

industry margins took during the pandemic.

But the board's concerns about sluggish sales volumes and

underinvestment are not unfounded, and have been raised

repeatedly in calls with analysts and investors in recent years.

SLOW GROWTH, INNOVATION

Nestle has posted patchy sales growth through Schneider's

nearly eight-year tenure in comparison to some of its

competitors, losing the momentum it gained during the pandemic

by alienating shoppers with too-high prices in 2023.

It and the rest of the consumer goods industry hiked prices

dramatically in the face of sky-rocketing supply chain and raw

materials costs, fuelling a global cost-of-living crisis.

In response to a question during his final post-results call

in July, Schneider acknowledged that supply chain constraints in

2022 had left "less energy" for innovation, which he said may

have inadvertently helped private label, or store-brand, goods

compete.

This was a new position - Schneider had previously brushed

off the threat posed to Nestle by private label competition,

saying that while the company had seen "limited" signs of that,

it was likely to be temporary. "I'm not concerned," he said at

the time.

But in the year to mid-June, according to Nielsen data

analysed by Barclays, Nestle's grocery store market share had

fallen dramatically in Europe from the year before and been

deeply hurt in the U.S.

Other companies like PepsiCo ( PEP ) and Unilever ( UL ) also lost market

share and sales volumes due to higher prices. However, these

other major players have in recent quarters managed to boost

volumes again, garnering praise from analysts for supporting

their comebacks with innovation and strong advertising.

Nestle was initially less able to slow its price hikes and

even when it did last year, volumes - or 'real internal growth'-

stayed weak.

Schneider's step back on marketing in 2022 has also been

criticized repeatedly by investors and analysts, despite his

renewed push for advertising since.

He has said himself that marketing was "quite muted" in 2022

due to supply chain and capacity constraints.

His replacement, Laurent Freixe, a 62-year-old Frenchman,

started working for Nestle 40 years ago in marketing roles

before moving up the ranks to executive positions.

He is seen as a food industry insider, with a broad network

of executives and experts from within and outside the Swiss

group. He has immediately pledged to focus Nestle on organic

growth rather than acquisitions.

($1 = 0.8479 Swiss francs)