Hein Schumacher, who has been responsible for moving Unilever away from “force-fitting” purpose and pursuing a “fewer things better” mantra, will be replaced by CFO Fernando Fernandez in a few days.
Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher is stepping down after less than two years at the helm of the business. The board has appointed the company’s chief financial officer, Fernando Fernandez to take over in the role in just over a week.
According to Unilever, Schumacher, who has led the company’s turnaround efforts since taking the helm in 2023, is stepping down “by mutual agreement”. Under Schumacher’s leadership, the business, which owns brands including Dove, Knorr and Hellmann’s, has been implementing a transformation plan, aimed at bringing about long-term growth.
This has seen Unilever focus resources on its “power brands”, meaning those with the most potential for generating profit. “Fewer things better with greater impact” has been an ongoing mantra for the organisation over the past couple of years, whether that has been through innovation or plans to spin off the ice cream part of the business.
Another notable move by Schumacher was a pledge to stop “force fitting” purpose to the Unilever brand portfolio. Under the leadership of his predecessor, Alan Jope, Unilever had been seen as the poster child for brand purpose, something that had earned ire from some of its investors. Schumacher stepped away from that focus, recognising that, while purpose was relevant and useful for some brands, it wouldn’t be for others.
Speaking to investors just a couple of weeks ago, Schumacher indicated that his Growth Action Plan (GAP) was delivering and would continue to deliver for the organisation.
“These changes are intended to set us up for consistent, higher performance over the longer term, the benefits are already apparent in improved performance,” he stated.
However, the company had previously alerted investors to a “slower start to 2025”. Today, Unilever chairman Ian Meakin underlined the business has work to do to improve its performance, suggesting Fernandez is the right person to help it achieve that.
“The board has been impressed with Fernando’s decisive and results-oriented approach and his ability to drive change at speed,” Meakin said.
He added: “While the board is pleased with Unilever’s performance in 2024, there is much further to go to deliver best-in-class results.”
Fernandez has been at Unilever for almost four decades, having started at the company in 1987. He joined in Argentina as a production costs analyst, then worked in procurement and accounting, before spending some time as a marketer. He was a marketing manager and then director in Argentina for the business’s laundry care unit, before being promoted to vice-president of the Latin America hair care business.
Following that he spent time in leadership positions in Europe, the Philippines and Brazil. His most recent role before being promoted to CFO in January 2024 was as president of Unilever’s beauty and wellbeing business.
Having been at Unilever for over 37 years and held upwards of a dozen roles across the business, Fernandez’s background is very different to that of Schumacher, who was an outsider when he was appointed in 2023.
While Schumacher had spent four years as a finance manager at Unilever between 1997 and 2001, the rest of his career had been spent at other organisations, including the Heinz business and dairy company Royal FrieslandCampina.
Fernandez will takeover as CEO of the business on 1 March.
