Unilever’s CEO Hein Schumacher was ousted on Tuesday, just 18 months after taking the helm, as the company’s turnaround plan, involving cost cuts and prioritizing top brands, intensifies.
Schumacher will step down from the role on Saturday before leaving the company on May 1. CFO Fernando Fernandez will replace him.
“While the Board is pleased with Unilever’s performance in 2024, there is much further to go to deliver best-in-class results,” Unilever chairman Ian Meakins said in a statement announcing the change. “The Board has been impressed with Fernando’s decisive and results-oriented approach and his ability to drive change at speed.”
The surprise leadership change comes amid Unilever's high-stakes shake-up to regain market share and streamline its business. In recent years, the consumer goods company behind Dove soap and Hellmann’s mayonnaise has combated cost increases by passing price hikes on to shoppers.
While that helped Unilever for a while, the company has been trying to shift away from price-led growth. The consumer giant is also under pressure from investors, including prominent activist investor Nelson Peltz, to fix its trailing performance.
Under Schumacher, the London-listed Unilever announced plans to spin off its ice cream business, which includes Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s, via a triple stock listing. The company also said it’d cut 7,500 jobs globally and shed smaller, underperforming brands worth €1 billion in sales cumulatively as part of streamlining efforts.
Some of these efforts may have started paying off, as Unilever reported 4.2% underlying sales growth in 2024 earlier this month. However, it caveated that growth by pointing to a “slower start to 2025,” which shook investor confidence.
The CEO change could add to the uncertainty Unilever faces as it kicks off a fresh year, Jefferies analyst David Hayes wrote in a note Tuesday.
“The step-up from CFO to CEO by Fernandez will be liked by many investors. They like his direct approach, but some may also see his style as somewhat maverick,” he wrote.
Fernandez became CFO in January 2024 and was previously the head of Unilever’s biggest business unit by sales, Beauty & Wellbeing. Brands like Sunsilk and Vaseline fall under this segment, which recorded €13.2 billion in annual turnover last year.
During Unilever’s earnings call this month, Schumacher highlighted how the company was “ahead of plan” in achieving €800 million in cost savings over three years.
He also said the company would stick to its reorganization plan that will focus on Unilever’s top-performing markets and brands.
As part of the changes, Unilever’s deputy CFO Srinivas Phatak will now become acting CFO while the company looks internally and externally for a permanent replacement.
The company said it doesn’t plan to change its 2025 outlook following the news.
Unilever’s top competitor, Nestlé, is also undergoing a similar overhaul. The Swiss company appointed a new CEO in August to help jumpstart performance as shoppers became more price-conscious.
As Nestlé’s CEO, Laurent Freixe said he planned to “focus on the core.”
Both companies are on the precipice of change and under pressure to improve sales, and 2025 could prove to be the year of significant changes for them.
