Unilever Appoints Dairy Boss as New CEO

Unilever PLC, based in London, saw its stock price drop by 0.60% today. The company is a leading consumer goods manufacturer, with products ranging from food and beverages to personal care items. Unilever has been in business for over 100 years, and is one of the world's largest companies.
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Nestle has appointed Hein Schumacher as its new chief executive. Schumacher is the head of a European dairy cooperative and will be tasked with leading Nestle's effort to reinvigorate growth and navigate economic challenges.
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Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Dove soap owner Unilever said Mr. Schumacher would become its new CEO on July 1. He succeeds Alan Jope, who the company said in September would retire in 2023.
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Unilever is looking to boost sales across its sprawling portfolio, while grappling with rising input costs, changing consumer trends and economic uncertainty. The CEO change is part of this effort.
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Mr. Schumacher, 51, is currently CEO of Royal FrieslandCampina, a dairy and nutrition business based in the Netherlands. He has extensive experience in the food and beverage industry, and has been a nonexecutive director on Unilever's board since October.
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Unilever has announced that Mr. Schumacher will be taking over as CEO, effective immediately. Mr. Schumacher has a long and successful history with Unilever, having started his career in finance before moving on to lead the turnaround of Heinz's Asia-Pacific operations. Most recently, Mr. Schumacher has been credited with delivering significant portfolio and organizational change at Royal FrieslandCampina.
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On Monday, Mr. Schumacher stated that he would be concentrating on collaborating with the Unilever team in order to improve business performance.
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Unilever's share price has lagged behind those of its rivals Nestle SA and Procter & Gamble Co. over the past five years, prompting criticism from some analysts and investors. The company faced additional scrutiny last year after its unsuccessful bid for the consumer-healthcare business now known as Haleon PLC.
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The emergence of activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management LP as one of Unilever’s largest shareholders has put pressure on management. Unilever has since appointed Mr. Peltz to its board.
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On Monday, Mr. Peltz spoke in support of Mr. Schumacher’s appointment. The two men first met when Mr. Peltz was a director at Heinz. Mr. Peltz was impressed by Mr. Schumacher’s leadership skills and business acumen.
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Under Mr. Jope, Unilever has already taken steps to improve its performance. The company has sold off slow-growing businesses like tea and initiated a sweeping reorganization aimed at making it more responsive to trends. Unilever has also indicated it could sell off more businesses to shift toward higher-growth categories such as health. Analysts have suggested that potential divestitures could include the company’s food brands or ice-cream business. These changes show that Unilever is committed to improving its overall performance and becoming a more agile company.
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Now that the company has been acquired, it is up to Mr. Schumacher to decide whether to continue pursuing the same strategy.
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Martin Deboo, an analyst at Jefferies, said he welcomed the appointment of an external candidate. He said his immediate question was where Mr. Schumacher stood on the relative attractiveness of Unilever's foods business and the merits of a potential separation of those operations from the company's home and personal-care operations.
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Unilever's stock prices rose by 0.7% during early trading hours in London.