Dabur Global CEO Malhotra Resigns, as leadership churn in legacy FMCG companies continues

New Delhi: Packaged consumer goods maker Dabur India announced the resignation of Mohit Malhotra, the company’s global chief executive officer, effective November 13, 2026.

The move cycles continued churn in top-tier legacy FMCG leadership, amid uneven demand trends, intense competition from regional and digital-first rivals, inflationary trends and a volatile geopolitical environment.

In August this year, Sudhir Sitapati, chief executive at Godrej Consumer Products exited abruptly, days after his reappointment for five-years had been approved by shareholders. Oral care maker Colgate-Palmolive India too announced that its India managing director and chief executive Prabha Narasimhan had stepped down and was relocating to a role in its Asia Pacific region as executive vice president – marketing.


Last year, India chiefs of Hindustan Unilever, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, L’Oreal and Britannia stepped down, while Nestle, Wipro Consumer Care and Haelon too saw corner office changes as their heads retired.

Malhotra said in his resignation letter that he has “accepted a leadership role overseas, effective 16 November 2026”, in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday. Also whole-time director of Dabur, he said in the letter that he had joined the company as a management trainee more than three decades ago, and been part of its journey from a Rs 1,250-crore organisation to a transnational enterprise with a presence in over 100 countries and revenue of more than Rs 13,000 crore. Malhotra is a management graduate from Pune University and holds an executive masters in international business from IIFT, New Delhi.

The maker of Vatika shampoo and Real juice also announced the appointment of Herjit Singh Bhalla, currently chief executive officer, as additional director and whole-time director for a five-year period. Bhalla had joined Dabur in April this year.

In another filing on Wednesday, Dabur reported 11.7% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 505.5 crore in the July-September quarter ’26 quarter, which it said was its fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit profit growth, and on the back of underlying volume growth.

Dabur said its premium brands continued to outperform its regular portfolio, growing at four times that of its mass-priced brands, adding that premium products now contribute 20% of the company's domestic business. It said in the exchange filing that its consolidated revenue from operations went up 11.6% on-year to Rs 3,563.1 crore in the said quarter.

The company said its international business grew 20% in Rupee terms during the quarter. Bhalla attributed the numbers to “sharper execution of strategy” in the company’s earnings statement, despite a challenging external environment marked by geopolitical uncertainty and elevated input-cost pressures. “The quarter saw a marked resurgence in general trade with the channel growing by mid to high single digits,” he added.