Unilever announced the appointment of Hein Schumacher as its new CEO. He will replace Alan Jope, who announced in September 2022 his intention to retire from Unilever.

Hein is currently CEO of the global dairy and nutrition business Royal FrieslandCampina and became a non-executive director of Unilever in October last year. He will begin as Unilever CEO on July 1, after a one-month handover period.

Schumacher is a business leader with an excellent track record across multiple leading companies in the consumer goods industry. As CEO of Royal FrieslandCampina, an €11bn turnover business operating in over 40 countries, he has delivered significant portfolio and organisation change as part of transforming it into a more focused, growth-driven and sustainable business.

Prior to joining Royal FrieslandCampina as CFO in 2014, Hein worked for H.J. Heinz for over a decade – during a time of significant change at the company – across the US, Europe and Asia. In his last four years at Heinz, he was based in China, where he led a turnaround of the Asia Pacific zone. Hein began his career in finance at Unilever, before joining Royal Ahold NV.

“We are delighted to welcome Hein as our new CEO, after an extensive, global search process. Hein is a dynamic, values-driven business leader who has a diverse background of experiences and an excellent track record of delivery in the global consumer goods industry. He has exceptional strategic capabilities, proven operational effectiveness, and strong experience in both developed and developing markets. The Board looks forward to Hein realising the full potential of Unilever as a winning business which delivers long-term growth and value for all its stakeholders," Unilever Chairman Nils Andersen said.

“I am delighted to have been appointed to lead Unilever. It is a business with an impressive global footprint, a strong brand portfolio, a talented team and an enviable reputation as a leader in sustainability. 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. 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," Schumacher stated.