Unilever has appointed Hein Schumacher as its new CEO, the former President of American food producer Heinz.
Schumacher will join the British consumer goods company on 1 July 2023, after a one-month handover period.
He replaces Alan Jope, who announced he would retire from the British consumer goods company in September 2022.
Jope originally joined the company in 1985 as a sales and marketing trainee.
He went on to serve as President of its Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care divisions, and has also held leadership roles in North America for 14 years and Asia for 13 years.
His retirement marks the end of a 35-year career with the Dove and Dermalogica manufacturer.
“I would … like to take this opportunity to thank Alan for his leadership of Unilever,” said Unilever Chairman Nils Andersen.
“The changes he has made to the company’s strategy, structure and organisation leave Unilever far better positioned for success.”
Schumacher is currently CEO of the global dairy and nutrition business Royal FrieslandCampina and became a Non-Executive Director of Unilever in October last year.
Prior to joining Royal FrieslandCampina as CFO in 2014, Schumacher worked for H.J. Heinz for over a decade.
“In my time serving on the board, I have only become more convinced by the strength of Unilever’s fundamentals and its clear growth potential,” added Schumacher.
“I will be very focused on working with the Unilever team to deliver a step-up in business performance, as we serve the billions of people around the world who use its products every day.”
Despite a challenging year in 2022, which saw Unilever slash nearly 20% of its workforce, the company has benefited from a sales boost during Q3 2022.
While total purchasing volumes slipped during the quarter, sales grew by 10.6%.
This was driven by a 11.2% price hike Unilever implemented half way through 2022, in an effort to alleviate cost pressures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Unilever's Beauty & Wellbeing division also reported a sales increase of 6.7%, largely driven by the price increases.
