Unilever elevates Nitin Paranjpe as its global chief operating officer

MUMBAI: Unilever named Nitin Paranjpe global chief operating officer as part of a leadership rejig that also saw the India unit’s chairman Sanjiv Mehta being appointed president of South Asia and a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE).

The world’s second-biggest consumer goods major said these changes, effective May 1, will help continue its transformation into a faster, leaner and more agile company.

Paranjpe, 56, became the head of Unilever’s foods and refreshment business last year after the Anglo-Dutch company completed the merger of the two segments to create its largest business unit. Mehta, who was executive vice president for Unilever South Asia, will continue as Hindustan Unilever’s chairman.

“Today’s increasingly fragmented consumer, channel and media environment requires us to operate with more speed and agility than ever before. With his deep knowledge and experience of our markets, Nitin is ideally placed to work with me and the Unilever Leadership Executive to drive our performance and help deliver our growth ambitions,” said Unilever CEO Alan Jope.

“Sanjiv has been one of our most impressive general managers with a consistent track record of growth and execution in high-growth and emerging markets. He has been instrumental in unlocking strong performance in South Asia, delivering exceptional top and bottom line growth.”

Paranjpe is Unilever’s second Indian-origin COO after the post was created in June 2011 and occupied by Harish Manwani until his retirement in 2014. The number of Indian managers has been increasing steadily at Unilever over the past few years with more than 200 currently serving the company globally in key leadership roles.

As India’s biggest consumer goods company, HUL is regarded as a proxy for consumer sentiment in the country. India is the second-largest market for Unilever after the US, contributing more than 9% to total sales and more than a fourth of its market capitalisation.

The elevation of Indian executives, many with stints in the local unit, reflects the increasing importance of the country for multinationals including Unilever as markets in the West hit a plateau. India particularly is an important destination for these companies, given its prime demographics and faster population growth.

Analysts said HUL could get extra focus from the parent company with more Indians on its leadership committee. “It is a positive for HUL, which will now get increased investment in terms of research and development, more global brand rollouts and also shows the importance of HUL and its employees within Unilever,” said Abneesh Roy, senior vice president, institutional equities, Edelweiss Securities. “The also puts Paranjpe as the key contender for the top CEO post in future.”

Paranjpe, who joined Unilever’s Indian unit Hindustan Lever (now Hindustan Unilever) in 1987 as a management trainee, has risen rapidly through the ranks. He was the youngest CEO at the Indian unit of the consumer giant and had a successful fiveyear tenure at the helm of HUL before he moved to his current role as president of the home care business in 2013. Under his watch, annual revenue grew to .`26,000 crore from .`16,000 crore in the period.

With the latest development, Mehta will join Leena Nair, Unilever’s chief human resource officer, and Paranjpe as the third Indian manager to be part of the ULE.

In his six years at the helm, Mehta, a chartered accountant by training, has increased HUL’s sales from.`25,810 crore in 2013 to .`35,787 crore now. That’s over .`10,000 crore in incremental sales, or about the size of Nestle or P&G’s overall business in India. Under him, HUL’s share price has trebled to .`1,737 apiece on the BSE, up from .`600 in October 2013 when he joined.