Unilever appoints Dutch dairy co-operative head as chief executive

Unilever has turned to the head of a Dutch dairy co-operative to succeed Alan Jope as chief executive, as the consumer goods group seeks to boost shareholder confidence after a period of underperformance.

In an appointment that surprised some analysts, the maker of Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream said on Monday that Hein Schumacher, who runs Royal FrieslandCampina and already sits on Unilever’s board, would take the top job in July.

The 51-year-old will need to lay down a strategy for how to revive growth across a diverse portfolio of about 400 consumer brands at a time of high input costs, changing consumer tastes and pressure on household budgets.

The UK-based company has been looking for a replacement for Jope, a 35-year veteran of the company, since he said in September that he would stand aside. Investor disquiet over a lacklustre share price was heightened by a botched £50bn bid for GSK’s consumer health business.

The management shake-up also follows the arrival of activist investor Nelson Peltz, whose Trian Fund Management has a history of pushing for change at consumer goods companies.

Peltz, who joined Unilever’s board in May after Trian built up a stake, welcomed Schumacher’s appointment, saying: “I strongly support Hein as our new CEO and look forward to working closely with him to drive significant sustainable stakeholder value.”

FrieslandCampina is among the largest dairy co-operatives in the world, with a workforce of about 23,000 and annual sales of €11.5bn. Schumacher has been chief executive since 2018.

Some other investors had hoped for “a more familiar name”, perhaps someone who led a turnround of another listed consumer company, according to Bruno Monteyne, an analyst at AllianceBernstein. A Dutch dairy co-operative was “probably not what they had in mind”, he said.

Schumacher, who began his career at Unilever and became a non-executive director in October, said he would be committed to a “step-up in business performance” at the company.

His time on the board had made him “convinced by the strength of Unilever’s fundamentals and its clear growth potential”.

Jefferies analyst Martin Deboo described Schumacher as a “foods guy” and said an immediate question for him would be whether Unilever should separate its food business from its household products assets.

The chief executive change is taking place sooner than expected. Jope had been expected to retire at the end of the year.

Unilever considered internal as well as external candidates for the role, but investors had called for someone from outside the company to take charge.

Schumacher previously worked at HJ Heinz and was based in China for four years. Nils Andersen, Unilever’s chair, said the incoming chief had “exceptional strategic capabilities, proven operational effectiveness, and strong experience in both developed and developing markets”.

Sybren Attema, FrieslandCampina’s chair, said he had “successfully guided [the co-operative] through an important transformative period . . . in often very challenging circumstances”.