Jawa to succeed Mehta as MD-CEO of HUL

NEW DELHI: FMCG major HUL on Friday announced the appointment of Rohit Jawa as the managing director and CEO to succeed Sanjiv Mehta who will retire from the company after leading it for a decade.

Jawa would take over the leadership role for a term of five consecutive years with effect from June 27, 2023, the company said in a statement. Jawa will join HUL board as a whole-time director from April 1, 2023. Besides the Indian market, he will also take over as president of Unilever South Asia.

He will join the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE) effective April 1, 2023. After a transformational tenure of 10 years at the helm of HUL, Sanjiv Mehta will retire from the company. Jawa is currently the chief of transformation for Unilever in London where since January 2022, he has successfully orchestrated the once-in-a-decade, end-to-end transformation of Unilever. He started his career with HUL as a management trainee in 1988 and has a proven track record of sustained business results across - India, South East Asia, and North Asia.

As EVP for North Asia and chairman for Unilever China, he led a significant transformation of Unilever China into a competitive, profitable, and consistent business, now Unilever’s third biggest globally, the statement said.

Further, as the chairman of Unilever Philippines, he led the business to become one of the top 10 markets for Unilever globally. Rohit’s ability to integrate the strength of traditional markets with digital technologies and future-fit business models, positions him well to take HUL into its next growth phase.

HUL chairman Nitin Pranjape said: “I am delighted to welcome Rohit back to India. He has a deep understanding of the business landscape particularly in Asia and has led the transformation of Unilever businesses in China and in the Philippines. Mehta (62), had taken over as the MD-CEO of HUL in October 2013 leading the business through a period of sustained growth.

During his decade at the helm, the business crossed the Rs 50,000 crore turnover mark and the market capitalisation of the company increased more than four times from $17 billion to $75 billion, reinforcing HUL as one of India’s most valuable businesses, the company said.

Hindustan Unilever Led (HUL) is India’s largest Fast-Moving Consumer Goods company. For the financial year ended on March 31, 2022, HUL which owns power brands as Rin, Surf Excel, Dove etc has a revenue of Rs 51,193 crore.

Mehta also served as the President of industry body FICCI. Besides, HUL board also announced the appointment of Ranjay Gulati as an Independent Director of the company for a term of five consecutive years with effect from April 1, 2023. Gulati comes with a rich understanding of Business Strategy and is presently a Professor at Harvard Business School, said a HUL statement.